One Flickering Candle in the Window
by ArwenLalaith
Summary: What should have been the happiest time of the year becomes clouded over by a personal tragedy. The team then bands together to fulfill a Christmas wish to make the most out of the time they have left together. 2009 Annual Christmas story.
1. Prologue

Sometimes, being a profiler required a bit of acting, pretending as if you know less than you really do. Because the job took away so much of your life that, when you see and know so much about everyone around you, you just have to look the other way. For the sake of everyone's privacy and sanity.

They had seen it before, JJ's relationship with Will, Reid's 'problem'... The lying, the secrecy, the anxiety...

She had been foolish, really, to think that they wouldn't notice, that they wouldn't pick up on the fact that something wasn't right. She knew that they'd pretend for awhile, act like they were none the wiser to give her time to deal with it. But sooner or later, they weren't going to be able to pretend anymore, they were going to need answers. She just didn't want to deal with it, because as long as they were pretending, so could she. They'd all be living a lie, but it was just so much easier...

******

Garcia sprinted the last few steps towards the FBI building, knowing that she was already late. She had planned everything very carefully, in order to leave herself enough time to get to work, but between the winter traffic and the doctor running late, her careful scheduling had ended up being an exercise in futility, seeing as she should have been here nearly an hour ago.

Ordinarily, she wouldn't have scheduled an appointment before work for precisely this reason, but it had been especially important and she didn't want to risk missing it should the team unexpectedly be called away.

She had hoped that the team would be preoccupied when she finally crossed through the bullpen to get to her office so they wouldn't notice her obvious lateness. No such luck.

"Hey, baby girl," Morgan greeted when he spotted her, "Rough commute?"

She forced a smile, her face stiff from the biting December wind. "Umm, yeah..."

She moved to continue on towards her office in the hopes of avoiding further questioning, but her way was impeded when she almost ran into Emily. She held out a mug; "I got you some tea," she said gently.

"Thanks," Garcia said half-heartedly, knowing that it hadn't gone unnoticed or unquestioned when she rather suddenly stopped drinking coffee. She pulled off her bright pink mittens, which she had specifically chosen that morning to cheer herself up, and reached out for the mug.

As she did so, her sleeve hitched up on her arm, exposing the plastic hospital ID bracelet. Her breath hitched in her throat, she knew that Emily had seen it too. Wordlessly, she met her eyes, silently pleading with her not to say anything.

Emily's eyes flashed with concern, but she gave the slightest nod and continued on as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

Garcia continued on to her office practically at a run, not wanting to face anyone else. When she finally set herself down heavily into her chair, she almost broke down. Pensively, she spun the hospital bracelet around her wrist, reading and rereading the words.

_Penelope Garcia. Age: 32. DOB: 05/25/77. Oncology Dept. Admitted: 11/20/09._

******

"I'm telling you, I know what I saw," Emily said definitively, "She's wearing a hospital bracelet." She may have promised Garcia that she wouldn't ask her about it, but the others needed to know; they were all concerned and would want to help.

"No way," Morgan insisted, "You must be mistaken."

"You know, it would actually explain a lot," Reid said.

"The exhaustion, the sudden weight loss," Emily began to list, "She just hasn't been herself lately..."

"You're talking about Garcia?" JJ asked, coming up behind them and joining the conversation. They nodded. "Is it just me or has her skin looked a little jaundiced lately?"

"I think you guys are letting your imaginations get away from you," Morgan insisted, "Why would she keep something like that a secret?"

"Wouldn't you?" Reid pointed out, "She probably hasn't even made sense of it yet herself and she wouldn't want anyone thinking that she can't do her job. Statistically speaking, during the period immediately following the diagnosis of a serious illness, people tend to pull away from those they're close to."

"Maybe we should ask Hotch," JJ suggested, "She might have told him something, just in case she had to go out in the field."

"We're not asking Hotch, we can't betray her trust like that. If we hear it from anywhere, it should be from her," Morgan said definitively.

"You're right," Emily agreed. He smiled as if he had just won the argument. "We should look in her office, we're bound to find something."

"What part of 'we can't betray her trust' didn't you understand?" Morgan said incredulously.

"We just want to help her," JJ insisted, "She obviously needs to talk about it, but she just doesn't want to burden us with whatever's wrong with her."

"I really don't think..."

Emily cut him off, "We'll go search her office. You stay here and, when she comes back, distract her for as long as possible."

"But..."

They were already across the bullpen, clearly finished discussing the matter. "We're doing the right thing," Reid consoled before following the two women, "We're just trying to help her."

******

"Find anything?" Emily asked the room at large.

"Nothing helpful..." Reid said, setting down a troll doll with fluorescent pink hair and butterfly wings.

"Hang on..." JJ said slowly, "I think I might have something..."

They were immediately at her side. "What is it?"

She read the name of the sender on the envelope, "Dr. Craig Fitzpatrick, MD. Potomac General Hospital, Oncology Department." She looked up, eyes wide as she absorbed the implications of what she had just said.

They both looked similarly alarmed. "Let's not jump to conclusions," Emily said, "What's inside?"

Pulling several sheets of paper out of the envelope, she murmured, "They look like test results..." Turning to Reid, she asked, "Can you read them?"

He took the sheets and was silent as he attempted to decipher them. His face suddenly became ghostly pale. "It looks like... She has stage II pancreatic cancer that metastasized to her spleen," he whispered.

* * *

**A/N: This is the first chapter of my first annual Christmas story! Now, I know that right now it doesn't really seem very Christmas-y... But I promise it is or at least it will be. But I really, really need your help! You have no idea how hard it is to come up with twenty-five days worth of Christmas events... So, I'm begging all of you to please send me a PM with your suggestions/personal Christmas traditions! If I use your suggestion, I'll make a note of your contribution and, if I find it particularly helpful, there just might be a reward in it for you... Thanks so much!**


	2. The Best Christmas Ever

_"Christmas was a time of happiness, but that Christmas is not what makes us happy. And if your family is all gathered around you at Christmas time, the presence of all your loved ones gives you joy in your heart. But if that is the sole basis of your joy, what happens if one of those loved ones is taken away? Will your happiness remain?"  
- Ray C. Steadman_

*****

_December 1st - The Best Christmas Ever_

"Garcia, what's wrong?" Morgan asked gently. When the others told him what they had found, he was no longer able to deny the fact that something was wrong.

They had decided to confront her, not up-front telling her that they knew, but coaxing her to let them in.

"Nothing," she insisted, but the slight tensing of her posture told them otherwise.

"Sweetie, come on," JJ said, "We just want to help."

"Really, I'm fine."

"We can see that something isn't right," Emily insisted, "Please, just let us in, let us help."

She sighed heavily and looked from one friend to the other. They were all focused on her, eyes full of concern and worry. They just wanted to be there for her and she had been hiding, lying for so long. "Okay..." she began slowly, but faltered. Suddenly, she didn't want to see their expressions when she admitted that she had been keeping such an important secret for so long. She shut her eyes tightly as she whispered, "I... I have pancreatic cancer..."

Reid had previously filled them in on all the horrible statistics. Cancer, at the best of times, was a terrible burden, but pancreatic cancer was a whole other ball game. It had one of the lowest survival rates of any cancer, with only about five percent surviving longer than five years. That was because it was very rarely discovered in the early stages, being asymptomatic until it was too late. And by the time it was discovered, it had quite often metastasized to other organs, making surgery an ineffective option.

Needless to say, they were all feeling alarm, worry, despair. Hurt that she hadn't been able to confide in them sooner.

"What's the prognosis?" Reid asked at length.

"Three months... Maybe six," she answered softly, still not meeting their eyes. Her next words were almost inaudible, "That was a month ago..."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Morgan asked quietly.

"I just... I didn't want to burden you over the holidays."

"Oh, sweetie..." JJ whispered, reaching out to hold her hand, "We wouldn't have..."

"I know," Garcia replied, "I _know _you would have dropped everything for me and I didn't want you to do that!"

"How are they treating in?" Emily asked, brushing past the hurt of that statement.

"They can't do surgery because it's infected my spleen as well, so they're using a combination of chemo and radiation to try to shrink the tumors. But I don't think they're very hopeful it will work."

"That's terrible," JJ breathed, "And at Christmas..."

"Don't worry," Garcia consoled, putting on a brave face, "I've come to terms with it. I'm not going to let it ruin my Christmas."

There was silence for several moments as they absorbed the implications of that statement; only having been given six months, this could very likely be the last Christmas she ever got.

That just didn't seem right. Garcia loved Christmas; as much, if not more, than most children. And the fact that she had to spend it sick, undergoing treatment, constantly in and out of the hospital... Well, it just wasn't fair.

Right away, it was clear what they had to do for her. "Well, for the next month, we're going to see to it that this is the best Christmas you've ever had," Emily vowed. They all nodded in agreement.

"You guys really don't have to do that," Garcia insisted.

"Well, we're gonna," Morgan said firmly, "So leave it alone."

For a moment, it looked like she was going to argue, but then she broke down. Tears glistened in her eyes as she whispered, "Thanks guys, you don't know how much this means."

A/N: So, here we go into regular, everyday postings... But I'll warn you right now, my plan to have it all written before December first didn't quite go as planned... So I might be a little late sometimes. But I promise there will be a chapter for every single day in December, eventually. And please, if you still have some thoughts/suggestions on what you'd like to see happen in this story, feel free to drop me a line and tell me about it!


	3. Make Like a Tree and Leaf

_December 2nd - Make Like a Tree and Leaf_

Garcia knew that the team fully intended to see their promise through, but judging by the way they were huddled together in JJ's office in the midst of some very important discussion, there was clearly something larger at play. Something much more than she was expecting. Which was a solid effort, some Christmas-themed hanging out, but they were busy people with jobs and families and lives of their own...

Clearly, she was wrong though. That became very obvious several moments later when they all emerged from JJ's office and Morgan immediately informed her, "Hope you're ready... You're with me tonight."

"You guys really don't have to spend every day..." she started to protest.

Their expressions made it clear that any protest was pointless.

"Okay, what are we doing?" she conceded.

He grinned brightly, "It's a surprise... Just make sure you dress warm."

******

"Where are we going?" Garcia asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"You'll see," Morgan replied for the hundredth time.

She was silent for several minutes, listening to the Christmas songs emitting softly from the radio and the occasional hum of passing cars, though few and far between on the seldom used back-road. At length, she spoke up softly, "You know, I meant to tell you all about the cancer. I just... I'm not sure it's even really sunk in for me yet and... I didn't realize you'd get hurt because you thought I didn't trust you."

"Hey, hey, don't do that," he reassured, "We completely understand, it's not an easy thing to deal with. Just as long as you know that we're all her for you and we want to help you any way we can."

"Thanks."

Again there was silence until Morgan exclaimed, "I love this song!" as he turned up the radio.

Garcia couldn't help but laugh as she listened to something to the tune of 'Ring of Fire', except about a Christmas tree on fire. Shaking her head, she said, "Where do you find this stuff?"

"Speaking of Christmas trees..." he said ambiguously as he turned the car down a gravel back-road, "We're here."

She quickly turned to look out the window, wanting to finally know what they had driven nearly an hour for. "Cut your own Christmas tree," she read off the sign, under her breath. She turned to him questioningly, "Really?"

"Of course," he replied as if she should have guessed, "Are you telling me you _never _went out to chop down your own tree?"

She merely smiled sheepishly in response. He shook his head as if in disbelief. "There's a first time for everything..." she shrugged.

******

"What about this one?"

"I don't know... It's a little scraggly," Garcia replied, examining the tree critically, "And it's kinda lopsided."

Morgan smiled to himself. Garcia had seemed a little skeptical at first as to whether this was a good idea or not, but it appeared that she had really gotten into it now. She carefully inspected every detail of each tree, apparently determined to get the best one. Most she had rejected on the basis that they were too 'Charlie Brown'; he didn't doubt in the least that the tree would have to be sturdy, he could only imagine that she would have tons of bright decorations.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard her shouting, "Morgan! Come here!"

He was instantly on alert, thinking that something bad had happened and he began frantically looking around as he realized that she was no longer with him.

"I've found the perfect tree!"

He shook his head and laughed. Of course that's what had her so excited.

"Where are you?" he called back.

A few seconds later she emerged from the trees, looking slightly exasperated. "What? Can't keep up with the dying girl? Come on, get your sweet ass over here, we've got a tree to chop down!"

******

"Are you going to help me decorate the tree too?" she asked as they sat on the tailgate eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate.

"Umm... I think Reid wants to help with the decorating, but I bet if you asked, you could probably convince everyone to help."

"Oooh, that would be so fun!" she declared enthusiastically. She tilted her head back to look at the tree now strapped to the roof of the vehicle, "Thanks, for this. "You guys are the best for doing this for me."

"No, _you're _the best."

"I agree."


	4. And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

_December 3rd - And a Partridge in a Pear Tree_

One look at the cheerful Christmas scene and you would never know that one of them had a serious, life-threatening illness. The team, including Hotch and Rossi, were gathered in Garcia's apartment, helping her decorate. Trays of Christmas cookies had been set out, along with mugs of eggnog, and Christmas carols filtered throughout the room.

"How in the world did you manage to accumulate so many ornaments?" Reid asked as he sifted through one of many boxes of decorations.

Emily laughed, "Look who you're talking to..."

"Can I put the star on?" Reid then asked excitedly as he triumphantly emerged from his search.

"You don't put the star on until the end," Morgan said, "Doesn't your big brain contain that fact?"

"Why?"

"The star represents the star that lead the three wise men to Bethlehem," Hotch explained, "It was the last star to be lit..."

"Okay, well, can I put on _at the end_?" he asked again.

"I wanted to do it..." Morgan said.

"Let Reid do it," Garcia scolded, "Where's your Christmas spirit of sharing?"

"Why doesn't _he _have to share?" he pouted jokingly.

She lightly smacked him upside the head. "Oh, grow up. Don't you know Santa's watching..."

"Yeah, Morgan," Reid laughed, "You're gonna get coal in your stocking."

"Oh, these are so cute," JJ gushed, pulling out several ornaments; little angels made out of dried pasta.

Emily laughed, "I think I might have to steal some of your decorations... You've put my apartment to shame."

"I think there's enough decorations here for all of our houses," Rossi said, then grumbled, "How do these light strings always get so tangled?" He was attempting to unknot a string of colorful lights, seeing as, no matter how they were put away, they were _always _tangled when you took them out again. With the lights tangled around him, he was starting to look like a Christmas tree himself.

"It's part of the fun," Emily piped up from where she was attempting to find the one blown-out bulb that was preventing the entire string from lighting. "By the way," she added, "I don't think there's enough rum in this eggnog..."

"There isn't any."

"Exactly."

Garcia smiled happily as she watched her friends – her family – laughing and joking. It was strange how her illness had managed to rally them together... And they may have promised her the best Christmas ever, but it seemed to her that they were the ones really getting into the Christmas spirit. They were like children again, anticipating the arrival of Christmas morning. That was when it really hit her... With all that they saw in their line of work, they probably sometimes forgot about the little joys of life. They usually didn't get the chance to really experience the Christmas spirit...

Then, she realized that, though they were doing this for her, they were the ones really getting something out of this. And she made herself a promise that she would make this their best Christmas ever. And then she made a vow to get better, so it wouldn't be the last.


	5. All the Whos Down in Whoville

_December 4th - All the Whos Down in Whoville..._

"I really don't need you to keep me company tonight."

"But..."

"Really, it's okay. I've got a treatment tonight."

Emily looked at her skeptically. "You thought that would convince me? I am _so _not letting you go alone."

"Hanging out in an oncology ward with a bunch of dying cancer patients doesn't sound like a very fun Christmas activity to me..."

"Fine, if you just don't want to hang out with me, just say so..."

"No, that's not it, I just..."

"So, you want me to come?"

"Yes, please." Garcia was silent for several minutes before she realized what had just happened. "Wait... How did you do that?"

Emily smiled mischievously. "You're not the only one good at extorting people to get what you want..."

******

There was something about the gaudily decorated hospital halls that made Emily feel inexplicably anxious. As she looked over at Garcia, who she was supposed to be here supporting, she suddenly felt like a total dork. The most composed of the two of them was the one about to be injected with radioactive isotopes designed to kill cells...

"It's okay if you can't handle this," Garcia spoke up out of the blue as if reading her mind, "I won't be offended."

"No, no, I can handle this," Emily assured.

Garcia laughed, "Seriously, it's fine. You're tough, I get it, you don't have to prove anything to me."

_How did she always know? _"What?" she asked, playing dumb.

"You're my hero; you're more badass than I'll ever be. But I don't mind if this is too scary, not everybody knows how to look mortality in the face when it doesn't have one."

Suddenly, she felt awful for not hiding her nerves better; she could have sworn that she used to be better at compartmentalizing things like that. Garcia shouldn't have had to deal with her anxiety on top of her own.

And, with that thought, she realized that she had to do this for the both of them. To prove to herself that she could and because Garcia had done so much for her over the years, she had to be there for her.

"Don't worry, I can handle this," she repeated, this time with more conviction.

******

Emily wasn't surprised in the least to see that Garcia had made friends with several of the young children who were also currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

Two young girls, in-patients on the pediatric oncology ward, arrived for their treatment shortly after Garcia and immediately rushed over to give her a hug and began chattering excitedly about their Christmas plans. Emily sat back and smiled, wondering how she had ever imagined anything else, knowing Garcia.

She almost burst out laughing as the younger of the two girls produced a box and challenged her and Garcia to a game of 'Whoville-opoly'. Garcia, of course, immediately jumped on the challenge, declaring with complete conviction that they were all 'going down'.

Usually, Emily wasn't really a fan of Monopoly, but for some reason, this particular version was just too much fun. Perhaps because Garcia and the young girls were bringing out the best of her Christmas spirit. Perhaps because she was trying extra hard to be cheerful, seeing as everyone around her was worse off than she. Or perhaps it was simply because she was racing her piece (the Grinch's dog, complete with 'antlers') around Whoville, trying to earn more money than Cindy-Loo-Who (Garcia), the Grinch, and the Who's version of a turkey, the 'roast beast'.

It didn't even matter that she was losing miserably.

Something that Garcia didn't hold back from point out. "Wow, Emily, you _really_ suck at this game."

"I'm letting you win. Santa's watching, you know..."

The little girls burst out laughing, followed shortly by a burst of song, "You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not shout, I'm telling you why... Santa Claus is coming to town!"

Emily clutched at the stitch in her side from laughing so hard as a little old lady across the room joined in the song, much to the delight of both Garcia and the girls.

And suddenly, it occurred to her just how much she had missed out on during her childhood Christmases... This was like having a second chance at being a little girl, soaking in all the joy of the Christmas season, never really having had the chance before. Garcia may have been the one getting the best Christmas ever, but it just might be her best Christmas too. Because, for the first time, she had a real family to enjoy it with.


	6. A Shared Tradition

_December 5th - A Shared Tradition_

Today was going to be a regular, average day.

Or, at least, as normal a day as could ever be had working at the BAU...

Garcia had decorated her office even more than usual, with the dual intent of celebrating Christmas and cheering herself up. A small string of colorful lights circled the room, paper snowflakes lined the walls, there was even a snowglobe on the desk.

The team was leaving on a case that day, meaning that she would be left to her own devices for awhile; not that she minded, they had already done so much for her.

But nonetheless, it seemed that they couldn't resist doing just a little something before they left because, when she got to her office, she found a mug of peppermint hot chocolate and a snowman-shaped cookie waiting on her desk.

She smiled and shook her head; they were too good to her.

Apart from that though, the day went more or less like any other case. It wasn't a particularly gruesome case, which, of course, she was grateful for. It just seemed like things were hitting her harder as of late and it was always all the more heartbreaking when such misfortune hit around the holidays.

She was just hanging up the phone after once again reassuring Morgan that she was fine, when there came a little tentative knock at the door to her office.

Confused as to who it could possibly be, considering that the only people who ever visited her in her office were currently in another state, she called, "Come in."

A split second later, a little colorful blur knocked into her at high-speed and engulfed her in as big a hug as he could manage with an elated cry of "Aunty Penny!"

Upon recovering from the initial surprise, she chuckled and returned the hug. "Jack, what are you doing here?"

From the doorway, Hailey answered, "Aaron called... He told me what's going on, thought maybe you could use some cheering up. I thought I'd bring Jack by for a visit."

She found herself welling up a little. "That's so sweet. Thank you so much."

"It's no problem," she said, "That's a horrible thing to have to deal with alone, especially at the holidays."

Before she could say anything else, Jack piped up excitedly, "Aunty Penny! Guess what!" He didn't give her time to guess before continuing, "I brought a craft for us to do!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah!" he said happily as he pulled a series of craft supplies out of his backpack.

"Only if she isn't too busy," Hailey reminded gently.

"Oh, I think I can spare a few minutes for my favorite little guy," Garcia said, smiling affectionately. Turning her attention to Jack, she asked, "So, what are we making?"

"Snowmen!" She couldn't help but smile at the little boy's enthusiasm, which she felt rubbing off on her. "Every year we make a different ornament so I'll 'member when I'm growed up."

******

They worked for awhile, Jack chattering happily the entire time as Garcia quizzed him about what he was going to do for Christmas and what he was going to ask Santa for. Then, a silence fell for a few minutes and the next words to come out of the little boy's mouth startled her. "Daddy said you're very sick," he commented quietly in the innocent manner that only a child could manage. She nodded, but said nothing, wondering if it was merely an off-handed comment or a genuine curiosity. "What's wrong?" He looked up at her from where he was coloring rather haphazardly to gaze at her with imploring eyes.

She frowned, attempting to think of a way to explain it so that he would understand. "It's called cancer. It means that the bad cells grow faster than the good ones and they don't do what they're supposed to."

"Oh." He was silent again, looking pensive. "But you're gonna get better, right?"

"Well, the doctors are doing everything they can..." she started to explain, not sure the most child-friendly way to explain that sometimes there was nothing that could be done. He continued to gaze at her, eyes wide. "I'm going to try."

He nodded, seemingly in approval of that answer.

"I'll bet there's cookies and egg nog in the break room; how does that sound?" She laughed as the little boy's eyes lit up and he nodded adamantly.

******

Just as she was packing up for the day, the phone rang. She quickly looked up Hotch's request, occasionally glancing up at the little snowman ornament that she had made with Jack as she did so.

She couldn't help but smile as she thought of the little boy's Christmas spirit and his insistence that she had to get better. Already, the short time she had spent in his company had began to make her feel a little bit better, like his youthful exuberance was rubbing off on her and negating all the evil wreaking havoc on her body.

Before he could hang up, she said simply, "And Hotch... Thank you."

She could hear the smile in his voice as he said, "I don't know what you're talking about..."


	7. Milk and Cookies

_December 6th - Milk and Cookies_

Upon their return home, JJ had promised a day of baking cookies. Garcia was thrilled; JJ was reputed as being an excellent baker. But Emily remained reluctant to join them despite their attempts to convince her. They had eventually gotten her to give in, under the conditions that she not physically participate in the baking in any way, but was merely there for moral support...and to be the taste-tester.

But that didn't stop them from attempting to guilt her into helping.

"Come on, Em," JJ insisted, "It'll be fun."

"I don't think having your house burn down when I attempt to use the oven will be fun for anyone..."

"So, you won't use the oven. There's plenty of jobs for you to do that don't involve heated appliances," Garcia added.

"I don't know..."

They knew that they were breaking her down. "Please," Garcia begged, "We might not get another chance to bake together..."

For a split second longer, Emily glared at them, clearly unhappy with their extortion. "Fine, give me an apron," she grumbled, "That wasn't fair." As she pulled the apron down over her neck and examined it critically, she gave them a skeptical look, "Really?" Clearly, the Santa face that adorned it didn't sit well with her.

"Do you want to mix ingredients together for the shortbread, cut shapes out of the gingerbread, or make icing?" JJ asked, ignoring her complaints.

"I already called using the cookie cutters!" Garcia interrupted before she could choose.

That seemed to break Emily out of her determined bad mood and she started laughing. "Okay, I'll make the shortbread. But if it catches on fire, is explosive, or is otherwise inedible, it's not my fault..."

"Dually noted."

"Just be careful," JJ started to caution as Emily poured flour into the mixing bowl and went to turn on the electric mixer, "Or you'll..."

Her warning came a split second too late though as a large puff of flour engulfed the kitchen.

They all coughed and waved the gritty air away as a fine white dust covered all surfaces within reach.

"...end up with flour everywhere..." she finished needlessly.

The look Emily was shooting them clearly said 'I told you so...', but seconds later, they all broke down into laughter.

"Maybe it would be better if you just helped cut out the gingerbread shapes."

******

"I thought we doubled the recipe..." JJ frowned looking at the gingerbread cookies on the cooling rack, "We should have had enough for four dozen."

"How many do we have?" Garcia asked, equally curious as to where the cookies had gone; she could have sworn that she had cut out more than were now cooling.

"Not four dozen..."

They both turned to look at Emily who was sheepishly avoiding their gaze. As they silently stood there, giving her a good-natured accusatory glare, she held her hands up in surrender. "I don't know what you're talking about... I certainly didn't eat the dough as I cut the shapes out..."

"Em!"

"It's not my fault... Besides, now we get to spend more time together, compensating for all the baking that never reached the oven."

Aww, how sweet," JJ replied sarcastically.

"Remember you guys were the ones who convinced me to help you... This never would have happened otherwise."

******

There came an unexpected knock at the door and they all stopped in the midst of what they were doing, JJ pulling the remaining cookie sheets from the oven and Emily and Garcia transferring the finished product into containers.

JJ set the tray down and pulled off her oven mitts to go answer the door. At the entrance to the kitchen, she turned back and affixed them both with a deadly serious gaze. "Garcia, whatever you do, _do not _let Emily eat any of the cookies. Seriously, guard them with your life."

"Hey," Emily pouted, "That's not fair..."

"Isn't it?" Garcia retorted, "You're the single reason we've had to triple every recipe just to have enough when they get to the oven."

JJ reentered the kitchen then, with Morgan at her heels. "Mmm, smells wonderful, ladies," he said with a brilliant smile.

"What are you doing here?" Garcia asked confused, "This was supposed to be a girls only affair."

"I just wanted to make sure you girls were alright on your own..." The looks they were all giving him were clearly full of skepticism, so he quickly added, "...And I wanted to... visit Henry..." He gave a sheepish grin at his lame excuses.

"Don't lie," Emily scolded, "You're here for cookies."

"You know me too well," he said, grinning, and reached out a hand towards one of the containers.

"Well, you're out of luck..." Emily replied flatly, "Because the cookie Nazis here wouldn't let you have one if your life depended on it." To emphasize her statement, at that moment, JJ snatched the containers away. "See?"

"Well, you can thank Emily for that, because she's eaten half the cookies we've made before they ever got to the oven," JJ replied.

"Aww..." Morgan looked crestfallen, "No one told me there was going to be raw dough eating... I would have crashed this party earlier."

"Besides, if you just wait, you can have cookies later," Garcia added, "Because these containers are for sharing with the team."

"I can't wait that long," he said seriously. They all rolled their eyes.

"Why don't you help Emily wash dishes," JJ suggested to him, "Then we can do something fun once everything's tidy."

"Is there a cookie reward in it for me?" Morgan asked hopefully.

At the same time, Emily moaned, "No fair! I'm not allowed to help with the cookies anymore?"

"No," came the simultaneous answer to both questions.

As Morgan turned the tap on and waited for the sink to fill with water, he leaned close to Emily and whispered, "Okay, here's the plan..."

"What plan?" she asked.

"To get the cookies," he replied, "Duh."

"Yes?" she said, intrigued. Her face broke out into a smile as he conveyed his dastardly plan. "Oh, they'll be so pissed..." she said, grinning evilly.

"So?"

"So, I like it."

They finished with the dishes just about the same time as JJ and Garcia finished arranging the cookies satisfactorily. "Wow..." Morgan sighed, "They look really delicious... I can't wait until..."

He was cut off by a lamenting groan from Emily, "Oops!"

Garcia and JJ's eyes widened in horror as they watched her glass of milk spill into one of the containers, soaking all the cookies. "Emily!" they both cried.

"Oh, no," Morgan said seriously. Then he shrugged, "Oh well, I guess we'll just have to eat them all now or they'll go bad."

JJ and Garcia shot them a glare as they both chortled and snatched a milky cookie out of the container.

"We should probably run now..." Emily hissed audibly under her breath.

"Yeah, I think so," Morgan agreed, grabbing the container and taking off at a sprint.


	8. Snow Day

_December 7th - Snow Day_

"It's snowing outside..."

"I see that."

"Looks like nice building snow..."

"What's your point?"

"I think you know."

They looked at each other frowning, challenging.

"It's the middle of the work day."

"So?"

"So, someone will notice if we just disappear to play in the snow."

"No, they won't."

"Where do you think you work? Of course they'll notice."

"They'll just be jealous they didn't think of it first."

"Hmm... Why do I find that hard to believe?"

"Oh, lighten up, Scrooge."

"Bah humbug."

"I don't want to use force, but I will if I have too..."

"Bring it on!"

******

"Where are Morgan and Garcia?" JJ asked as she approached Reid and Emily's desks, "I just checked her office and it's empty."

"That's strange... I know they were both here earlier."

"Maybe they went out for lunch?" suggested Reid.

"No, both their cars are still here."

"But their jackets aren't."

"So, where the hell are they?" Emily asked.

"Should we try calling them?" Reid prompted.

Emily and JJ were already one step ahead, dialing Morgan's cell. "Hey, Morgan, where are you?"

"I just stepped out for a minute, work thing..."

"Is Garcia with you?"

He started to reply, but was immediately cut off by a series of indiscernible noises as if he had dropped his phone, the sound of far off laughter, and a distant yell of, "Oh, no, you didn't!"

Then, he said, rather loudly and in a huff, "Umm, no, she's not," and then promptly hung up.

Emily turned back to the others with a raised brow. "Work thing, my ass!"

"I think I know what's going on here," JJ said, "Get your coats."

******

"What did I tell you? They're all out here, playing in the snow with us."

Reid, Emily, and JJ had all bundled up in their winter gear against the chill weather and came outside to find Garcia hiding behind a half-demolished snowman while Morgan bombarded her with snowballs.

"_Help me, guys, help me!" Garcia had called upon sighting them, "He's picking on a poor, defenseless, sick girl..."_

"_Hey, she started it!" Morgan cried as the others all joined her behind the snowman and started building a little blast wall out of snow. But he was quickly forced to start building a shelter of his own as the others began stockpiling ammunition._

Emily and JJ were currently holding Reid down while they stuffed snow down his jacket because Morgan had convinced him to desert their team.

"That's just because Reid, Em, and Jayje are just as immature as you are," she retorted. He shot her a pointed glare. "But if Hotch or Rossi knew... We'd be in hot water."

Glancing back to where Reid was shrieking and begging them to stop while JJ sat on his back and Emily packed snow down his collar, both laughing manically and demanding he surrender, Morgan was forced to concede, "You may have a point there..."

Then, Emily, shortly followed by the others, came sprinting past and launched themselves behind their little fort.

"Don't look now, but here comes the hot water..." Garcia whispered, backing away to hide as well.

That left Morgan alone to explain their lack of productivity. "Hotch, man, this isn't what it looks like..." he scrambled for an excuse.

"Oh, really?" Rossi said with a raised brow.

"Because it looks like you're about to go down..." Hotch finished as they both produced snowballs from behind their backs. Morgan moved to seek shelter, only to find four more snowballs with his name on them, aimed resolutely at his head.

"Oh, come on! That's not fair!" he groaned.

His plea was useless as Garcia cried, "Fire!" and he was bombarded from all sides.

He just smiled to himself as she giggled happily.


	9. Pray For Me

_December 8th - Pray For Me_

"Garcia..." Rossi called, making her stop in her tracks.

She was just crossing through the bullpen, ready to head home after a long day. Upon hearing the sound of Rossi's voice, she stopped dead and spun around to face the senior agent, hoping that he didn't need her to process some other request before heading out.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Can I speak with you for a minute? I have something I'd like to ask you."

"Of course, Sir." As she followed him up to his office, she couldn't combat the rising feeling of anxiety that she couldn't fully explain; although, past history of one-on-one conversations with him didn't exactly bode well.

He shut the door behind them and was silent for a minute. She began to wonder if he had reconsidered. "Sir?"

"I was wondering if you would like to come with me to church tonight..." he said quickly.

"I, umm..." she stuttered, not entirely sure what to say, having been taken aback by the unexpected invitation.

He immediately started to justify, "Don't feel obligated, I'd completely understand if you aren't up for it. But I just thought that since everyone is making you a part of their Christmas traditions, I'd like to share one of mine. And..." he paused, meeting her eyes, "Sometimes, when I feel like everything's falling apart around me and I'm not in control of anything, it helps me to pray, to know that someone's listening, that someone cares."

"I'd love to," she cut him off, knowing that this wasn't the kind of thing he was used to doing. She gave him a slight smile, "Thank you."

******

Garcia had been to church before, but she couldn't help but feel like it wasn't quite the same as this time. Not to mention that it had been many years since she had last set foot inside a church to pray.

And, as she and Rossi crossed through the small cathedral to sit down in one of the first few pews, she couldn't shake the feeling that people were watching her, judging her.

Like they knew she didn't belong.

And not in the same way that most people looked at her when they saw an outrageously, colorfully dressed woman. It was almost like their gazes were filled with contempt.

She had specifically chosen some of her most conservative clothing, having had the feeling that the other church-goers might not be the most receptive to her over-the-top personality.

It was like they could see right through her.

Evidently, Rossi could too, because he leaned over and whispered, "Just ignore them, they're all just a bunch of stuck-up Catholic jerks. Not exactly receptive to outsiders..."

She smiled gratefully. He, at least, wasn't ashamed of her. She had to admit, she was a little surprised; she had always felt that his attitude towards her was more one of necessary tolerance, rather than actual acceptance. She understood; she was, after all, a bit of an acquired taste and not everyone was going to like her.

"If you think that, then why do you come here?" she asked quizzically.

"Because I'm a stuck-up Catholic jerk." He looked over at her to see her smiling cautiously at the joke. "It's okay to laugh, I admit it and I _know _you were thinking it."

"No," she lied, "I just..."

"It's fine, I know I'm not the most likable person. And I haven't always been very kind to you."

"It's fine. I'm not..."

"No, it's not okay. I was horrible to you because you're different..."

She frowned and raised a cautioning hand. "Let me just stop you right there. If you're only saying this to clear your conscience because I could be dying, then I don't want to hear it."

Rossi sighed, "I know fake apologies are the last thing you want, but I assure you, I truly am sorry. I've never truly accepted you because of who you are and that wasn't very kind of me. I'd like your forgiveness; it might be too late to make it up to you, but it's not too late to start over with a clean slate."

"I'd like that," she said with a genuine grin.

He offered his hand for a handshake. "Friends?"

"Friends," she agreed, but instead pulled him into a hug which he returned after only a slight moment of hesitation.

From the front of the alter, the priest started, "Every Christmas season we remind each other that it is not enough for Christ to have been born in Bethlehem two thousand years ago. What really counts is Christ being born in the human heart. Your Bethlehem is when Christ came to you and was born in your heart. It is that remarkable parallel that constitutes the good news of Christianity today -- that Jesus can be born in us as certainly as he was born in Bethlehem. Therefore, to us, the angel stands to make his welcome announcement: "Fear not. Fear not, for unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'"

As she listened to a sermon for the first time in many years, she smiled. A day of firsts. The first real conversation she'd had with David Rossi, the first time they'd really connected, the first time she would really consider him to be a friend.

While it sucked that it had had to come to this for them to be able to reach this level of mutual respect and kindness, it was never too late... At least they'd had the chance for second chances.

The preacher continued, "No matter what the trial may be, the promise of this verse is that we have a Savior, a Deliverer, especially designed to handle that problem, a Savior who is with us always. If we remember that, and look to him, he will take us through it. He does not promise to take the problem away, but he says he will take us through it. He will strengthen us to face it and will give us courage and peace and joy in the midst of it. Therefore the promise of the angel was 'Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. This is what Christmas must mean to us. No event and no circumstance can come into our lives that will be more than he can handle, more than he can take us through. It is that knowledge that gives the heart peace and puts joy upon the countenance."

A/N: I know that might not have been the most 'in-character' thing for Rossi to do, but I really wanted something where they bonded a little and reconciled their differences because I've always felt that he was more of an ass towards her than the others. Oh, and the lovely words of the preacher are an excerpt from Ray C. Steadman's sermon "The Coming of Joy." I thought it was fitting.


	10. Mistletoe, Snowmen, and a Hippopotamus

_December 9th - Mistletoe, Snowmen, and a Hippopotamus_

Garcia frowned as she stared out at the crowd of people in the vast ballroom. Apparently, office Christmas parties were considerably less fun when alcohol was removed from the equation.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't mandatory that she not consume any alcohol while on the treatment... And she would have been dangerously close to breaking her self-imposed embargo, had it not been for the team's very generous offer to remain sober with her.

She had repeatedly told them that, though it was a very kind offer, she couldn't ask them to do that, especially knowing how horrendously boring most of the parties were, but they had insisted that they wanted to do it. Although, she was pretty sure that they were regretting that now, not that they'd ever admit it.

"We need something to liven up this party..." she said to the table at large.

There were several noises of agreement and Emily leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, "What did you have in mind?"

Then, Reid's eyes lit up. "Oh! What's it called? That thing where you have a list... Of a bunch of things to find..."

"A scavenger hunt?" Morgan supplied skeptically.

"Yeah!" Garcia said, clapping her hands happily.

"We can all add one thing to the list and we have to collect as many of them as possible before the party ends," JJ piped up.

"What's the winner get?" Morgan asked, still a little hesitant.

"Well, I think there's still a container of cookies left," JJ said, though not without shooting him and Emily a glare.

"Okay, I'm in," Morgan said, laughing slightly to himself at the memory.

******

"Okay..." JJ said, reading out the list they had come up with, "_1. Materials for a snowman (two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and three buttons). 2. Convince someone to sing a Christmas carol at the top of their lungs. 3. Ten kisses under the mistletoe. 4. A recipe for cookies. 5. A video of someone over sixty telling you about the funniest gift they ever received for Christmas. 6. A Christmas joke. 7. A picture with someone wearing a Santa hat._" She frowned, finding it difficult to believe that they had managed to come up with this list sober. "Then, once finished with the list, each person must then go outside and build a snowman using the things they've collected and take a picture with their snowman to prove it."

"I think I'm going to sit this one out..." Hotch said.

"Me too," Rossi agreed, "This is going to be too entertaining to miss..."

"Fine, but you're gonna miss out."

As the other five set out to complete their lists, Rossi pulled a ten dollar bill out of his wallet and said, "Ten on Morgan to win."

"Ten on JJ," Hotch bet.

Morgan came sprinting back to get something he had left behind and added, "Twenty on Garcia."

******

Reid huffed out a breath; he had no idea of where to start. And, evidently, as he heard someone burst out in a rather loud and slurred version of 'I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas', he was already behind.

He turned towards the source of the noise to see who had gotten the jump on the game, only to find Emily, the neckline of her dress slightly less buttoned than it had been five minutes ago, spurring on one of their more inebriated coworkers as he sang.

So that was her trick... Taking advantage of her looks to extort drunken men into doing her bidding. He shook his head, he had no doubt that the other women were doing the same thing. And he was sure that Morgan was similarly coercing the women.

So, where did that leave him? Geeky and awkward wasn't going to get him very far in this game...

******

JJ smiled wryly as she listened to a woman gush over cookie recipes as she scrawled the ingredients needed to make her favorite shortbread on a napkin. Usually she was better at pretending to listen, but right now she was trying to keep an eye on the competition. She knew she wasn't losing, but she definitely wasn't _winning_... And she would be damned if she was going to let Morgan or Emily win.

Finally, the insufferably chatty woman passed the recipe to her and wished her luck.

Thanking her, JJ added, "Oh, and if anyone else asks you for a cookie recipe, don't give it to them."

She smiled, pleased with herself. There hadn't been any rules _prohibiting_ running interference for the others... And she had gladly taken full advantage of that fact. And honestly, she didn't even really feel bad about it. It might have been kind of an underhanded trick, but she didn't really mind at this point... She still had to collect kisses.

******

Garcia couldn't help the feeling of smug self-assuredness now washing over her. Apparently, people were very eager to help when you told them you were sick and in the midst of a high-stakes scavenger hunt... And it didn't hurt that many of the party-goers were made pliable by copious amounts of liquor and wouldn't remember any of this the next morning.

She had 'borrowed' one of the decorative sprigs of mistletoe, making her hunt much easier. It was just a simple matter of trading a kiss for any of the other items on her list; not exactly an equal trade-off, especially when considering that each item for the snowman had to come from a separate person, but it was still much more efficient than whatever system the others seemed to be using.

She mentally checked off the final item on her list as a particularly wasted attorney handed her a random button from the contents of his pocket for use in her snowman. Though, she was really wondering why he just happened to have an unattached button on his person, she decided to just go with it and leave the matter unquestioned. Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she took off towards the nearest door.

She had a snowman to build.

******

Morgan glanced up quickly to check that he still had time, only to see Garcia disapear out the door. _Damn. _

He had made a mutually beneficial pact with Emily when he realized that she had nearly half her list finished in the time it took him to do one thing. So, now, he called her name and gestured towards the door.

"Damn," she hissed and he smiled.

Then, he realized that he had inadvertently alerted JJ as well and she was closer to the door than he was. And, of course, he was still competing against Emily, despite their peace treaty, so he took off at a run, earning more than a few questioning glances as he went.

They were lucky that this was one of the warmer nights of the winter, not only because it made the snow easier to build with, but also because they had all neglected to put on their jackets in the rush.

Garcia had a good head-start over JJ and even more so over Morgan and Emily, seeing as her snowman almost had a thorax. There was no way they were going to catch up now...

"I say we just build a giant communal snowman," Emily suggested, "Then we all win..."

The others turned to eye her consideringly. "Fine," they agreed at length.

But as they all began rolling snowballs of their own, Garcia added, "But we all know I won."


	11. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

_December 10th - I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas_

Hotch eyed Jack consideringly, watching him eat his breakfast of red and green Rice Krispies while he watched 'Shrek the Halls' on TV. The young boy somehow managed to simultaneously be riveted on the show and unable to sit still, squirming and antsy.

Of course, though, what could you expect from a six year old boy during December whom he strongly suspected had snuck a candy cane off the tree before breakfast?

"What do you want to do today, buddy?" Hotch asked as soon as the little boy could tear his attention away from the green ogre. He was looking forward to a day of winter revelling with his son.

"I want to see Aunty Penny," he said airily.

Hotch frowned, he hadn't been expecting that answer; in fact, if he had a hundred guesses, he probably would never have gotten that. "I thought you wanted to see the zoolights."

"Yeah, but Aunty Penny's sick and I don't want her to be sad." He was silent for a minute, thoughtfully chewing the straw of his juicebox. "We could do both..." he suggested.

"I don't know," Hotch shrugged, treading lightly, "She might already..."

"Please, Daddy!" he begged, "She's sad at Christmas..."

Hotch sighed, there was nothing he could do to change his mind once he had it set on something. And besides, the whole team, _including Rossi_, was making an effort to make sure she wasn't alone this year. "Okay, buddy, let's give her a call and invite her."

******

Garcia was startled awake by her phone ringing. She had started to nod off a little, lulled to sleep by the constant rhythmic beeping of the various machines on the chemotherapy ward.

Looking at the name on the caller ID, she felt her heart drop a little. It was Hotch... That meant a case. She had been hoping it was Morgan or Emily or JJ or even Reid.

"Hi Hotch," she said sleepily, a little dejected.

"Aunty Penny!" came the excited voice on the other end of the line.

She laughed, a little surprised, though not unpleasantly so. "Jack! What are..."

He cut her off, "We're going to the zoolights tonight! Wanna come with us?"

In the following silence, as he waited for her answer, she could hear Hotch's voice in the background, "Jack, let me talk to her."

And then Jack's loud reply, "But Daddy, I'm talking to her..."

She couldn't help but giggle. "Jack, why don't you let me talk to your father."

He sighed exasperatedly, "Fine..."

"I'm sorry," Garcia said once Jack handed Hotch the phone, "I know you don't get a lot of time with Jack. It was very kind of him to think of me, but I really don't want to intrude."

Hotch smiled wryly, "You wouldn't be intruding; Jack's dead set on you coming with us. And once he has his mind set on something..."

Her hesitation was audible, "Are you sure? Because I really..."

In the background, she could hear Jack, "Daddy! Is she gonna come? Daddy! Can I talk to her? Daddy!"

"Trust me," Hotch assured, "It would just be easier for everyone if you agree to come."

"Well, in that case, I guess you leave me no choice."

******

Jack's mittened hand clasped tightly to his father's and Garcia's hands as he excitedly pointed out all the colorful light animals.

"Look, Daddy! Look at the giraffes," he trilled happily, "You see it, Aunty Penny?"

"Yeah, I see it, kiddo."

"And the candy cane path? And the big spider?"

"Yeah, buddy, we see them."

"Is he always this energetic or is it just at Christmas time?" Garcia whispered to Hotch over the little boy's head.

"A little from column A, a little from column B," Hotch shrugged, "And the sugar."

Jack gave a big tug on their arms and cried, "Look! The reindeer are over there! Let's go see them!"

Hotch could see from the way Garcia's shoulders began to slump that she was starting to wear thin. He knew that she had received a treatment earlier that morning and past experience told him that they were lucky she had lasted this long... Or that she had even agreed to come at all. He wouldn't have pressed so hard on the phone had he known that he was speaking to her while she was undergoing the chemo.

"Jack, why don't you go and play on the snow park for awhile while we rest a little," Hotch suggested, attempting to give Garcia a few minutes to recover.

Jack frowned as he looked back at the two adults. "Is Aunty Penny okay?" he asked worriedly.

Hotch saved her having to answer, "She's okay, Daddy needs to take a rest – he's getting old."

Jack silently stared back at him for a moment, skeptical, but eventually seemed to decide that was an acceptable answer and took off towards where the other children were playing in the snow.

Keeping an eye on the bright orange toque bobbing amidst the other bundled-up children, Hotch lead Garcia to the nearby fire-pit where the other exhausted adults had found sanctuary.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" he asked gently, "Jack would understand..."

She cut him off, "I'm fine, really." She was silent for a minute or two, then continued, "Thank you for letting me come with you."

He smiled slightly, "Happy to do it. You know, it may seem like I have no ability to feel human emotion, but I really do understand what you're going through..."

She looked up at him, surprised. Needless to say, she hadn't been expecting him to open up to her like this.

"And I'm glad that you told us, that you let us help you," he continued, "When my dad was diagnosed, he didn't really know how to relate to us anymore. We tried to be there for him, to support him, but he closed himself off from us. I guess it was just easier for him to build a wall around himself." He was silent for a moment, she assumed squashing down stronger emotions than he was comfortable with displaying. He looked up to meet her eyes. "I'm glad you didn't do that. We can get through this... Together – as a family..."

She smiled. And, so as not to make him uncomfortable, asked, "Sir, would it be alright if I hugged you?"

"Of course," he said, returning her smile, and added, "And don't call me 'sir' tonight."

Then, Jack's whine floated out over the din of other voices, "Daaa-ddy! The reindeer!"

A/N: Once again, I'm not sure I was quite able to accurately characterize Hotch in this chapter... But he was the only one that I knew for sure would really be able to relate to her situation on a more meaningful level than just concern. And, I don't know if there's anywhere else that does the 'zoolights' (a Christmas-y zoological light display at the zoo, featuring other Christmas things, like a reindeer stable)... But it's one of my favorite things about Christmas in Cow Town, so I thought I'd include it.


	12. Must Be Santa

_December 11th - Must Be Santa_

Entering Garcia's apartment, Emily found her stranded in the middle of the living room, surrounded by a pyramid of boxes and a couple dozen rolls of wrapping paper.

"Wrapping your presents?" she asked, despite it being obvious that's what she was doing.

"Nope."

"Oh, really? So, then, what _are _you doing?"

"I'm helping to wrap presents for the children's hospital."

"Oh..." Her eyes focused in on the pile of colorfully wrapped gifts and those still needing to be wrapped. "Looks like you've still got a lot left to do... I suppose I could give you a hand, since I'm already here." She tried to pretend like she didn't really want to, but Garcia could see right through that charade. She knew that something about seeing the young girls in the hospital that day had really struck a cord with Emily.

"You're too kind," she replied, half-way between genuine and sarcastic. She swept aside scraps of paper and tape to clear a patch of floor for Emily to join her.

Measuring out a swathe of paper, Emily asked, "So, what are we wrapping for? Christmas party?"

Evidently, she had been waiting for exactly that question to be asked. "Not exactly..." Her face lit up. "Oh, it's so cool! It's for this cute little volunteer thing that helps deliver gifts to people away from home at Christmas, hospitals, nursing homes..." She smiled lightly, almost mischievously, "You should join us when we go deliver the gifts..."

Sensing that there was something being withheld from that request, Emily hesitated, giving Garcia a suspicious look. This was a trap... There was no way she could refuse without seeming like a grinch. "Sure... That sounds...awesome."

The smile grew wider. "Oh, you're just going to love it..."

If anything, that made her more suspicious.

******

Emily frowned as she looked down at the 'uniform' she wore, then looked up to scowl at Garcia. "Seriously?"

"What's wrong?" she asked innocently.

"I did _not _sign on to be an _elf_! Even if it is for a good cause..."

"That's a pity... Because it's such a good look for you."

"You're lucky there are witnesses here," she hissed. "Although, I have to agree, if anyone can pull off this look, it's me."

"See, I told you you'd like it."

"Hey, nobody said anything about liking it. There's nothing about being awake at seven AM I like. Ever. Do you know how hard it is to drink coffee on a bus?"

"Just quit your bitching and help finish loading the gifts on Rudolph."

"You mean the bus?"

"No, I mean Rudolph."

"The bus _named _Rudolph."

"Where's your Christmas spirit, Scrooge?"

"I must have left it in my non-elf pants..." They both shook their heads and laughed.

It was a cute premise, she had to admit, public transit buses named after reindeer ferried around 'Santa' and a group of elves, armed to the teeth with gifts, to bring presents to people alone at Christmas who otherwise might not have gotten any at all.

But the whole thing was horribly cheesy... All the elves wore silly green and red costumes, even the buses were decked out. Presumably to keep them all in character for the day.

"Ho ho ho," boomed a familiar voice, "I hope our sleigh is loaded because we've got ten minutes until take off!"

"It's not a sleigh, it's Rudolph!"

"It's a bus!"

It was a split second longer before they recognized and fully processed who the voice belonged to. They both whirled around on their heels to stare in incredulity. "Rossi?" they said in unison.

"No, it's Santa, my dear elves."

"Rossi, I didn't know you were helping out today," Garcia said brightly.

"Every year. I witnessed three young kids on the worst Christmas of their lives... I like to make sure that other kids have the best Christmas they can, given such unfortunate circumstances as being hospitalized," he explained.

"That's so sweet..."

"Santa!" the driver called, "Get your red behind on this bus, we've gotta get this show on the road!"

******

Seeing the way 'Santa' was whispering with the bus driver, Emily began to get nervous. As far as she could tell, they had taken the _really _scenic route and she couldn't figure out why.

Then, the bus pulled up at a red light and 'Santa' called out, "Alright elves, everyone off the bus!"

Emily gripped Garcia's forearm tightly, "What's going on?"

"Think Chinese fire-drill, but jollier..."

"What does that mean?"

Everyone filed off the bus, surrounding a nearby car, and, on the count of three, they all started into a loud, cheery chorus of 'Must Be Santa'.

"_Who's got a beard that's long and white?"_

"_Santa's got a beard that's long and white!"_

"_Who comes around on a special night?"_

"_Santa comes around on a special night!"_

"No one told me about _this _part of the job..." Emily hissed.

"Well, then it's a nice surprise," Garcia replied drolly.

"I beg to dif-"

"Shut up and sing, elves," 'Santa' said, "Before Santa has to kick some ass..."

"_Special night, beard that's white... Must be Santa, must be Santa, must be Santa, Santa Claus_."

A/N: That is actually an annual Christmas volunteering thing around here... And super fun, I might add!


	13. I Only Want You For Christmas

_December 12th - I Only Want You For Christmas_

"Just a minute..." Morgan called through the door after Garcia knocked.

"I told you to be ready at _exactly _ten! It's now quarter after and we're..." she scolded, a little annoyed. She had agreed to give him a hand with his Christmas shopping since, if history was anything to go by, he clearly sucked at it; probably since he was one of those people who inevitably left it to the last minute.

"In a minute," he repeated, interrupting her rant.

She sighed aggravatedly, wondering what could possibly be so important that he couldn't even open the door. But there was really nothing she could do but wait, so she settled to the ground by the door to fix her sock which had been pulled down by her winter boot.

But, as her ear neared the door, she heard Morgan talking to someone, presumably on the phone since she heard no voice in response. And, since she had nothing better to do, she decided to eavesdrop a little.

"Are you sure you're okay, Em?"

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. While it wasn't unusual for the team to call each other, even on subjects unrelated to cases, this didn't seem like just a regular, platonic conversation between colleagues or even friends...

She leaned in closer to press her ear closer against the door.

"No, honey, it's not silly. And you don't have to do anything you don't want..."

_Honey!? What was Morgan doing addressing Emily as honey?_

"If you don't want to go to your mother's Christmas party, then just don't go. You're a grown-up, she doesn't control your life."

_They all knew that Emily hated going to any of her mother's functions, but she never asked anyone else for advice..._

He chuckled. "Okay, well, maybe a little, but..."

_Morgan seemed to know an awful lot about Emily's mother..._

"Okay, so go. But she can't make you like it."

_This whole conversation was starting to seem very suspect..._

"And then after, you can come back here and I can..."

_Whoa, whoa, whoa!_

Upon hearing that, she nearly choked on the sip of tea she had just taken. Instantly, she clapped a hand to her mouth as she fought to hold back a cough. She quickly scrambled to her feet to pretend as if she hadn't been listening in on what was obviously supposed to be a private conversation.

He stopped speaking suddenly upon hearing a coughing and spluttering coming from outside the door. And a split second later, the door flung open and Morgan stood on the other side with a raised eyebrow, looking as if he had just caught her with her hand in the cookie jar.

"I'll call you back," he said into the phone before quickly hanging up. Then, attempting to pretend as if nothing had just happened, he turned back to Garcia, "Sorry I took so long. Let's head out."

But she was not about to let that fly. "Hold on just a minute there, mister. Who were you just talking to?" Obviously, she knew exactly who had been on the other end of that call, but she liked to pretend she wasn't nosy.

"No one."

She narrowed her eyes to glare at him. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

"I'm sick and you're not going to be honest with me? This might be your only chance..."

It was his turn to glare at her. "You really have to stop playing the cancer card..." She just continued to look at him expectantly. He sighed aggravatedly and threw his hands in the air. "Fine!"

"And don't leave anything out. We both know I was eavesdropping and I don't have any compunction against spreading rumors..."

******

Smiling to herself, Garcia couldn't help but feel that she had been given a blank check for mayhem for her Christmas gift this year. Merry Christmas indeed, at least for her. She had a feeling Morgan and Emily might not view it so cheerily once they found out what she had done...

One of the things she liked to think she was best at was playing matchmaker...and pulling pranks. So, when she was given a chance to do both, she decided she may as well take the opportunity while she still could. A gift to herself, so to speak.

And to her two best friends, who would benefit in the end.

Dialling Emily's number, she put her devious plan into action. Waiting until a very sleepy and slightly annoyed Emily answered the phone, she played a message she had pieced together using sound-editing technology, from an earlier conversation with Morgan she had recorded.

"_Hey, Em, I'm really sorry to call so late... But I took a bad fall and I think my arm is broken... You know I wouldn't call if it wasn't bad. I don't think I can get to the hospital on my own..."_

Instantly, Emily sounded much more awake, "I'll be right there. Just hang in there and don't do anything stupid." As she spoke, there was a series of bumps and crashes, as if she were attempting to get dressed hurriedly and in the dark.

******

Morgan awoke to the sound of insistent knocking on his door and he groaned, rolling over to see the alarm clock flashing 1:12 AM. He was about to roll over and ignore it, sure that whatever it was, it could wait until morning...or if it couldn't, then the person knocking would break down the door. Either way, it didn't require him getting out of bed.

At least, that was his plan until he heard the person knocking call to him. "Morgan? It's Emily! Let me in!"

That had him awake and out of bed. He couldn't imagine any reason why Emily would be pounding on his door at this ungodly hour, so whatever it was, he knew it had to be bad. Flinging open the door, he was a little taken-aback by her rather dishevelled appearance, pyjama pants tucked into Ugg boots and a care-worn Yale hoody, apparently she had been in such a hurry to get here that she had even forgotten her winter jacket. If possible, he was even more confused as to her presence after considering her attire in the equation; even when they had mere minutes' notice about being needed on a case, she never appeared anything other than perfectly polished as if she'd had hours to get ready. That must mean she had _really _been in a hurry to get here... "Emily, what are you doing here?" he asked upon getting over his surprise. He couldn't help but get a little lost in how beautiful she looked; if anything, her laid-back appearance made her even more breath-taking.

At his question, she frowned and seemed confused. "What are you talking about? You called me..."

"What?"

"You said you broke your arm and needed help getting to the hospital..."

"I think I would remember that..." he shrugged. He switched to a more pressing line of questioning, at least, in his mind. "You came all the way out here in the middle of the night because you thought I was hurt?" She nodded. "But you hate winter driving...and driving at night...and you don't wake up for anything short of an atomic bomb..."

A pale pink tinge crept up her cheeks and she said quietly, "I thought you needed me..." For a fraction of a second, there was a laden silence and she immediately filled it. "So, if you didn't..." she started musing. Then, realization dawned on her face. "Garcia..."

But he didn't really catch her words, being too deeply absorbed in his thoughts. If she had been willing to do that for him, then he must really mean something to her. God knew, by now, he was so far gone that she was practically his whole world. And this was at least a glimmer of hope that his feelings were reciprocated.

Considering everything that had happened thus far this year, it had become glaringly apparent just how short life was and just how much they all took for granted... Like the assumption that there would _be _a next year...

Her voice startled him from his thoughtful reverie. "But why would she do that...?"

In a fraction of a second, he had come to the decision to go for broke, to take a chance, to tell her how he felt... At least then, even if she didn't feel the same, he would know for sure. He wouldn't have to spend another year wondering.

"She caught me talking to you on the phone and you know how she is... She wouldn't let up until she had the whole story..."

Emily raised a brow. "And what would the 'whole story' be?"

He took a deep breath and said, "That since I made it my mission to make you love Christmas again, I've come to realize that I'm a very stupid man... Because you've been right in front of me this whole time and I couldn't see how perfect you are, I couldn't see that my feelings for you made me blind to any other woman. That the only thing I really want for Christmas this year is to be able to call you mine..."

For what felt like the longest moments in the history of time, she just stood there, a little stunned. Then, breathlessly, as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs, she said, "Wow..." Then, she seemed to shake herself out of her trance. "I... I think that can be arranged..."

He pulled her into a hug, a warm feeling of happiness growing in his chest. He mentally reminded himself to thank Garcia.

Pulling away, Emily said quietly, "Seeing as your arm clearly isn't broken, I should be getting home... You'd better hope we don't get called in tomorrow because I'm really gonna need to sleep in."

"I'll bring you coffee if we do," he said smiling. And, as she was half-way out the door, he called out to her, "Emily, wait..."

She turned back and a second later, his lips came crashing down on hers in a kiss that made her knees go weak.

******

Garcia smiled to herself as she watched the security camera feed from Morgan's building. This was _so _worth staying up all hours of the night, just to see the results of her handiwork. Although, she had to admit she hadn't expected her plan to go _that _well...

She was pleased, she couldn't have been happier with the results. That was a pretty good gift to herself. Merry Christmas indeed.

She wondered if JJ would be angry if she woke her up to tell her what she had just witnessed...

A/N: I know, I know... Honestly, I wasn't planning on writing anything like this. In fact, I was trying to distance myself from any element of M/P whatsoever... But while trying to write this chapter after a different fashion, my mind just sort of took off in its own direction and voila! And, considering how much trouble and stress this story had been causing me thus far, I decided not to fight it and just let my muse do her thing... So, here we are. And I'm sorry if anyone really doesn't like this, I know more than a few of you were hoping for something a little different... It probably won't really be mentioned again in this story, but once I get things a little more in order, I'll be starting the companion piece revolving around the M/P aspect (called: 'The Soft Snowflakes Kiss Us').


	14. Hats Off to You

_December 13th - Hats Off to You_

Garcia groaned, she was already bored out of her mind and it wasn't even noon yet... She never thought she'd wish that the team would get a case; at least then, she'd have something to do. But, seeing as there had been a major snowfall the previous day, the flight authority wasn't letting any planes take off, so they were stuck in Quantico for another day or two at least.

Which was nice, having her friends around for a few days, but it made for major boredom...

As she stood outside the break room, waiting for her tea to steep, she realized something. Everyone on the team had worn a Santa hat that day. Even Hotch. Which she suspected was due wholly to the coercion of others, but still...

She smiled. That gave her an idea... Something that might make this day at least a little less boring.

She quickly found a piece of paper and wrote down instructions. Then, she very casually dropped the piece of paper onto Emily's desk as she passed. She watched as Emily read the instructions, then looked up to give her a questioning look.

_Do NOT be the last one still wearing your hat...  
__You must keep yours on until I take mine off.  
__When mine is gone, so should yours be.  
__Loser buys coffee.  
__Pass this on until everyone knows._

_Game on._

Garcia just gave her a slight nod, looking deadly serious. Emily nodded back, mirroring her expression. Then, adjusting her hat, she passed the note on to Morgan who looked confused until Emily said something and they both turned around to look at Garcia. Then, it must have clicked.

Quite pleased with herself, she returned to her office to wait until everyone forgot they were playing the game.

******

JJ knocked on Hotch's office door, smiling to herself as she reread the note in her hands. Garcia sure knew how to make a day interesting.

"Come in," Hotch called.

Entering the office, she found that he was currently in the midst of a conversation with a rather displeased Strauss. "Oh, you're busy, I'll come back later..."

He shot her a 'please, save me' glance and said, "No, it's fine." Strauss though, it seemed, begged to differ; but she remained silent. "What is it?"

"Important memo," she replied, passing him the note.

She struggled not to burst into laughter as she watched him read it, his expression changing from curiosity to questioning to confusion. He finished reading and looked up at her, clearly asking for an explanation.

"Garcia, Sir," she answered his unasked question.

His expression immediately became one of total understanding and again she fought the urge to laugh.

As she left his office, she turned at the door and said, "Good luck..." But left it hanging as to whether she meant in the game or with Strauss, who was left confused at the whole exchange.

******

Garcia knew that the others had finally stopped paying attention to the game when they no longer dropped by her office every few minutes, making up some excuse as to why there were there, despite the fact that she knew that they were trying to get a head-start on the game.

Now though, there had been a good forty-five minute gap since the last time anyone had 'dropped by', so she was pretty certain that they had all forgotten.

But, just to be certain, she decided to test the waters. Returning to the bullpen to get another cup of tea, she watched closely to see if anyone would even take notice of her presence at first. It seemed though that they were absorbed in their work and she received no more than a scant precursory glance.

She smiled happily. Game on, indeed.

******

They all were eating a late lunch in the conference room, of course discussing various consults. Having nothing better to do, Garcia had joined them. And, realizing they were satisfactorily preoccupied, she surreptitiously pulled off her Santa hat and smoothed down what she was sure to be a bad case of hat-hair.

She almost gave herself away by laughing as a good fifteen minutes or so passed before anyone even seemed to notice.

Then, Hotch glanced up at her, but made no move to remove his own hat. She wondered if he was even playing. But sure enough, a minute or two later, his own hat came off as he scrawled notes in his file.

He quickly looked up to meet her eyes and fought a smile. She shook her head; he was a sneaky son of a...

Emily and JJ were next to realize, though they were considerably less subtle about it than Hotch had been. Emily then elbowed Morgan in the ribs, seeing as he was deeply absorbed in his notes. He looked up, seeming annoyed, until he realized what was going on.

That left only Reid and Rossi. And nearly a half hour passed and it seemed that neither was about to notice. It might have gone on for several more hours except for the fact that the others began snickering to themselves at their cluelessness.

Finally, Rossi looked up to take a bite of his meal. Hearing all the quiet giggles, he was about to ask what was so funny, when it hit him.

At the same moment, Reid looked up and began what was sure to be a rather long-winded monologue.

Not wanting to be the loser, Rossi quickly pulled off his hat, throwing himself off balance slightly, nearly sending himself toppling to the floor from where he was leaning back in his chair.

That sent them all into full-blown gales of laughter as he coughed, having choked on his food a little when he almost fell over.

Reid stopped his rambling. "What? What's so funny?" Looking at each of the others in turn, quizzical, it took him several more moments before he understood. "Oh..."

"Again, again!" JJ clapped happily, "Let's play again!"

"This time I get to start!" Reid quickly cut in, not wanting to lose again.

"Starting now!" Garcia said as they all quickly pulled their hats back on again. They all wore broad grins, but their gazes were challenging and determined not to be the loser this time around.

It was funny how the smallest gestures seemed to make the biggest difference, the best memories.

A/N: I know... This one was kinda (really) lame. But trust me, you have no idea how stressful it is trying to come up with 25 GOOD ideas... I was kinda grasping at straws by the time I got through the standard Christmas activities. So, a big thank you to everyone who made suggestions, believe me, they really were helpful!


	15. Ladies' Night

_December 14th - Ladies' Night_

It was just one of _those_ days...

The weather seemed particularly bent on wreaking havoc across the city. Night fell, along with a fast and heavy snow. People were urged to stay home, rather than attempt to use the icy roads.

That meant a night at home, just the girls. Which Garcia had really been looking forward to; it had been so long since they'd had a chance to spend some quality girl time together for more than an hour or two. And, if the storm persisted at its current fury, they'd be hanging out for quite awhile. But none of them seemed to mind; Christmas was about spending time with those you care about, with your family.

Seeing as their last communal attempt at cooking had been less than a complete success, the unspoken decision was that they would each be in complete control of their own dinner, in the form of little make-your-own pizzas. Which admittedly left Emily a little disadvantaged, but JJ and Garcia liked to think of it as a little payback for the cookie incident.

As they set to work chopping vegetables, JJ spent about ten minutes flipping through the TV channels, trying to decide on a suitable Christmas special, before eventually deciding on 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'.

"Really?" Emily groaned, "Aren't we a little old for this?"

"What? It's a classic," Garcia pointed out.

"Isn't there anything better?" she insisted.

To humor her, JJ flipped back through the channels. "Would you prefer 'A Muppet Family Christmas' or 'Elmo Saves Christmas'?" she offered, slightly sarcastically.

"The Muppets," Emily replied genuinely, "I've already watched 'Elmo Saves Christmas'."

There was a moment of rather awkward silence. "Really?" Garcia asked, surprised.

"No, but you should have seen your faces..." she laughed. "But seriously, let's watch the Muppets."

"Fine," JJ sighed.

******

After a few cooking mishaps, a near-miss finger amputation, some under-cooked pizza, and a subsequent over-cooking resulting in the smoke detector going off, they finally were able to settle down to eat.

Garcia frowned as she attempted to scrape some of the charring off the bottom of the crust. "Remind me again why we let Emily be in charge of the oven?"

"Hey!" she said indignantly, then agreed, "I was wondering the same thing."

JJ shrugged, "I thought she could handle it... How hard is it to turn off the heat before it starts to burn?"

"Hey!" she repeated again, "I _told _you I can't cook! And you could have been more specific about what you meant by 'burning'..."

"Shh!" Garcia sharply hushed them, "It's back on!"

The others laughed as they turned their attention back to 'Shrek the Halls'.

"Aren't there any more age-appropriate Christmas specials on?" JJ asked.

"What's wrong with Shrek?" Garcia asked, as if she really couldn't see anything wrong with three adults watching an animated green ogre.

"That's a no," Emily offered.

******

It was nearly one AM before they finally managed to fall asleep, having made the decision to just sleep over after seeing a report on the news of a car being hit by two semis while attempting to drive home (the news didn't stay on for very long though, because, according to Garcia it was 'too depressing'; which was why they had fallen asleep to the sounds of 'Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too').

Though, not before they painted their nails outrageous colors (the only colors of polish Garcia owned), roasted s'mores in the fireplace, played truth-or-dare, and, of course, gossiped.

But, as one by one the sugar high from the s'mores started to wear off, they eventually dozed off. All but Garcia, who continued to lay awake. She smiled slightly to herself as she glanced over at her best friends, sleeping bags haphazardly strewn across the floor, Emily snoring quietly.

Quite often she thought to herself that this night was the kind of thing they needed more of in their lives because it wasn't often that they really got to just relax, to just be themselves; too often they had to be the image that people expected of the FBI, tough, no-nonsense, stoic... And, in her mind, that just wasn't good. That wasn't who they were... And a little part of her was sure that, if it weren't for her forcing them to just step-back sometimes, they would never really have fun.

That was a big part of what she had accomplished these last few weeks. This month, they had been themselves more and agents less. They had really lived, really enjoyed Christmas for the first time in who knew how long. They had laughed more, smiled more. They had spent more time with those that really matter, just being together. They had learned not to live on borrowed time. And they thought _they_ were helping _her_...

And it may have come at a terribly high cost, but if it made this much of a difference in their lives, if they learned to actually live during the time they had, she knew that she wouldn't change a single thing about it. It was almost like it had been a kind of gift to all of them. The only thing she really wished she could change was having waited so long to tell them...

Just then, JJ started to talk in her sleep, begging them to kill the toad that was chasing her. Her mumbling woke up Emily who looked less than thrilled as she shook her awake. Garcia just laughed to herself, glad to have had the time to make such memories.


	16. Dashing Through the Snow

_December 15th - Dashing Through the Snow_

When they awoke later that morning, they found the storm had delivered its promised punishment and then some...

JJ had been the first to wake up and, looking out the window, had exclaimed, "Holy crap, it snowed a _lot_!"

And that, of course, had woken the others; who, with much grumbling and yawning, joined her at the window. Seeing just how much it had snowed, they stood there, astounded. "We should check on our cars," Emily said absently.

"I'm pretty sure you aren't gonna be going anywhere today..." Garcia pointed out, seeing as the snow piled up against any outside doors made it impossible to open them.

But nonetheless, they all pulled on their winter gear and trekked out to the street where they had parked. That was when they got the shock of seeing the snow piled up to the point that, not only were the doors impossible open, but the door handles couldn't even be seen because the snow drifts were so high.

"Well, I don't think we're gonna be going anywhere any time soon..." Emily echoed.

"So... What are we going to do today?" Garcia was secretly pleased about this turn of events, knowing that it meant spending more time with her favorite people.

******

Though a number of things were suggested, including baking cookies, it seemed like too nice of a day, all snow aside, to waste inside. The final decision had therefore been to go sledding on the little hill in the green-space just off the apartment complex. And they had their hearts set on that idea before anyone could point out that they didn't have any _real _sleds. Not that that was going to stop them...

As JJ pointed out, they could make do with a few things lying around the apartment like she had always done when she was little.

Which was how they ended up bundled from head to toe in warm clothes, heading to the little hill with two cardboard boxes and a cookie sheet.

They ended up getting there before anyone else, so the snow was still fresh, meaning they had to make the first tracks... Which is about as easy as running in sand. Rock, paper, scissors had determined that JJ got the honour of taking the first run, but after several minutes and very little progress, the others ended up pushing the little cardboard box most of the way down the hill through the deep snow.

******

Not long after, children started to join them on the hill. They seemed torn between wondering what three grown-ups were doing sledding and wishing their parents were that cool.

"Your turn, Em," Garcia insisted after once again climbing back to the top of the hill.

"Umm..." she stalled, reluctant, "I don't know..."

"You're going," JJ said firmly, also joining them at the top of the hill.

"But it's a cookie sheet... That doesn't seem very safe to me," she argued.

"So use the box."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'll stick to the pan, thank you very much, I think I stand a better chance with metal."

"Well, go then, before we have to push you down the hill..."

With one more scowl, she set the pan down in the snow and somehow managed to compress herself to fit on the metal square. Taking a deep breath, she gripped tightly at the edge of the pan, but made no move to propel herself forwards. "I don't know about this, guys, I really don't think..."

But her qualms came too late because the sled had already started to inch forwards on the slick surface. "Oh my God!" she cried as she shut her eyes tightly, "Holy –"

"Emily!" Garcia called after her, "Watch your mouth! There are children here!"

"And remember to steer!" JJ added.

"I don't know _how _to steer a _cookie sheet_!" she growled back.

Clearly, she didn't, because several seconds later, she wiped out in a massive cloud of snow from which only the pan emerged to continue on down the hill.

JJ and Garcia rushed down to where she lay in the snow, not moving. "Em! Emily, are you okay?" they asked frantically.

She opened one eye and said, "I hate you all."

They just laughed as they pulled her up and dusted her off before chasing the pan down the hill.

******

"I'm cold! Can we go back?" JJ begged.

"Yeah!" Emily agreed, "We can have coffee and warm up."

"Just one more run?" Garcia plead.

"Fine," they both agreed, seeing as she was clearly having so much fun.

"Oooh!" she said brightly, her eyes widening, "Let's race down the hill!"

"Okay!" JJ quickly agreed.

"I don't know..." Emily hesitated.

"Come on," JJ insisted, "You can have one of the boxes."

With a split second's hesitation, she agreed, never being one to back down from a challenge.

They all took got into position on the starting line and Garcia counted down, "Three, two, one... Go!" And they all used their hands to propel themselves forwards until they got to the crest of the hill and momentum took over.

For most of the way, it seemed like Garcia was going to win. At least, until she was about half-way down the hill, when her cardboard box, worn from the repeated abuse of travelling down the hill and being soaked through by the snow, fell apart.

JJ cackled happily as she slid past. Not far behind was Emily, who called out as she past, "Eat my dust!"

Garcia was startled when a little kid skidded to a stop next to her and said, "Hey, lady! Use my sled! You can't let them win like that!" And he passed over his little blue plastic flying saucer.

"Thanks, kid!" she smiled brightly as she awkwardly crawled onto the sled.

"Go! Go!" the little boy cheered as she took off after JJ and Emily.


	17. On Thin Ice

_December 16th - On Thin Ice_

"Reid, do you know how to skate?" Garcia asked from where she was leaning over the boards while waiting for the others to tie their skates.

"I'm familiar with the concept," he replied evasively, looking up from where he was very slowly lacing up his skates.

"Let me rephrase that; have you ever actually _been _skating?"

"Not exactly..."

"So, no, then," Morgan said as he knelt down to help Emily retie her skates.

"Is it that obvious?"

"You've been lacing up your skates for the past half hour," Emily pointed out.

"You're still lacing up your skates," he deflected.

"No, I'm _retying_ them."

It had technically been Reid's idea that they go out skating, seeing as the recent snowfall made for excellent ice and the subsequent warm weather meant it was too nice a day to spend indoors.

"If you don't know how to skate, then how did you expect to figure it out today?"

"I don't think it can be _that _hard to learn..."

"Well, we'll see how that works out for you..." Morgan chuckled as he held out his hand to help Emily step onto the ice.

Finally, like a fawn taking its first steps, he wobbled to the edge of the ice and took a few awkward steps onto the ice. Immediately, his feet seemed to gain minds of their own and started to slide out from under him and he grasped frantically at the boards surrounding the ice to stop himself from falling.

"Looking good there, genius boy," Morgan laughed as he passed, holding tightly to Emily's hand, "A real Elvis Stojko."

"Hey!" he said indignantly, "And I don't know who that is!" He continued slowly inching around the ice, pulling himself along the boards.

"Let go, Reid," JJ called as she and Garcia came to a stop next to him. "You'll never learn that way."

Relenting, he released his grip and took a few awkward steps towards them.

Good job!" they cheered, "You're doing great! You're..."

Their praise was interrupted by a particularly spectacular wipeout as he flopped to the ice, landing on his back with a dull thud and groaned, "Ow..."

"Or not..."

Garcia bent down to help pull him up and offered, "Reid, would you like me to teach you how to skate?"

******

"Okay, bend your knees so you can't see your toes," Garcia instructed, "Keep your shoulders forwards. Kinda like you're sitting. Now, lean on your left foot and push outwards diagonally with your right foot."

For a moment, he stood still, clinging to her hand as if his life depended on it, while he attempted to figure out what that meant. Then, he very awkwardly propelled himself forwards a little, stomping his skate back onto the ice.

"Good try, but next time, try to be a little less elephant and a little more gazelle. When you push off, just let yourself glide forwards from the momentum until you stop. You understand?"

"Everything but the elephant..."

"Never mind, just keep skating. And use _both _feet."

He seemed very pleased with himself as he made it nearly around the whole rink without falling.

"Try not to tense up so much. It won't kill you to fall over," she corrected.

"It might," he said seriously, "I'm not wearing a helmet which means the chances of significant neurological trauma greatly increase should I fall..."

"So, don't fall on your head then," Garcia shrugged.

"It's not a matter of..." he started to argue.

"I'm letting go now," she interrupted.

"No! Don't!" he cried in protest, "I'm not ready!"

"Yes, you are," she insisted, releasing his hand. "Just keep skating."

Unsteady at first, he continued on his own. "I'm doing it!" he called happily, "I'm doing it!" But then he started going too fast... "I don't know how to stop!" he wailed, just as he crashed into JJ, sending them both tumbling to the ice.

And, once again, Morgan was there to laugh at his awkwardness. "It's like watching Bambi learn to walk," he joked as the two attempted to disentangle themselves and stand up again. Then, in a little bit of karmic justice, he also stumbled and fell, much to his embarrassment and everyone else's amusement.

******

It was getting late and most of the people at the rink had started to disperse. But they were enjoying themselves too much, now that they all, more or less, could skate on their own.

"We should play hockey!" JJ suggested brightly.

Reid frowned, "I don't know..."

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Garcia plead.

Morgan was already tying the fake goalie shooting targets to the net, so it was clear that they were going to play whether he liked it or not.

"Girls against boys?" Emily suggested.

"Aww..." Morgan groaned, "That means I get stuck with Reid."

"Thanks, man," Reid said sarcastically.

"Are you ladies gonna play or are you gonna talk?" Garcia challenged, dropping the puck on the ice.

"Just stay in their end and cherry-pick. Be ready to tap the puck in the five hole if I pass it to you. And don't Malarchuk anyone," Morgan instructed quickly as he got ready to defend against Garcia and Emily who were skating towards their net.

"I don't understand any of those words when used in that context," he called back.

"He means score goals," JJ simplified as she skated over to defend against him. "Oh, and you're going down."

"Just don't hurt me..."

At the other end of the ice, Garcia had very nearly scored, but Morgan was too quick and stole the puck away. Dekeing around Emily, he sped back towards the other net. "Come on, Reid, pay attention," he called.

And a second later, the puck came to a stop on the blade of his stick and he stood there in amazement for a second or two.

"Go, Reid! Skate!" Morgan urged as all three women sped past to triple-team him. "To the net!"

But clearly, stick-handling and skating at the same time was not a skill he had mastered, because he began stumbling and wobbling. Just as he was about to face-plant though, he managed to flick the puck towards the net and it just barely passed the goal line through the four hole.

They were all too busy laughing to argue the merit of the goal.

A/N: For those of you who don't know (which may actually be most of you..) Elvis Stojko is a Canadian figure skater (he won two silver medals at the Olympics). And Malarchuk (referring to Clint Malarchuk, who used to be the goalie of the Buffalo Sabres NHL hockey team) had his internal carotid artery severed by a skate blade during a game in 1989 and very nearly died (Very interesting! Look up the video, I think it's cool, but you might not if you're rather squeamish... he lost a LOT of blood!). Oh, and to 'deke' means to fake out someone to get around them with the ball/puck as the case may be.


	18. Walking in a Winter Wonderland

_December 17th - Walking in a Winter Wonderland_

The snow seemed to have finally decided to let up, the constant thick winter blast abating to a mere sprinkling of tiny flakes like the inside of a snow-globe.

The streets also seemed fitting of the idyllic Christmas-time scene in the most horribly cliche way. Little houses, snug under a blanket of snow, glittered with colorful lights strung along roof-tops and wrapped around trees. Wreathes and bows decorated doors, the greens and reds a stark contrast of the muted browns and whites. Unobscured windows gave glances inside homes, a peek into cozy suburban lives, usually featuring the Christmas tree, each one different from the last like each snowflake tumbling down from the late evening sky. Occasionally, a door would open and the sounds of a December evening would spill forth into the crisp air, carrying to the ears of anyone passing the sounds of children's shrieked laughter and soft carols.

Few cars hissed past over the snowy roads, most people at home with their families. And, as they walked down the street, Garcia kept expecting a horse-drawn sleigh to trot past. She laughed quietly as she reminded herself that they _weren't _in a Norman Rockwell painting.

"What's so funny?" Morgan asked, leaning down slightly to bump his shoulder against hers.

"Nothing..." she shook her head, "Just thinking that the only way to make this night any cheesier would be if someone dressed up as Santa came strolling down the street..."

He frowned and groaned in fake disappointment, "Aw, now you've ruined all my plans."

Garcia just shook her head. "You know, you're kind of a dork sometimes."

His face became dead serious. "Hey, words can hurt, you know."

"I'm sure you're _so_ wounded..."

He laughed heartily and shook his head. "Okay, silly girl, how about we just look at the lights... And stop making jokes at my expense."

She gave a sigh of exaggerated annoyance. "Fine..." Under her breath, she muttered, "Spoil-sport..." But her smile made it clear that the ribbing was good-natured.

"Check this out," he said, gesturing towards a house on the next corner, "These people have way too much time on their hands..."

"Wow..." she breathed, stopping in her tracks for several moments to gaze at the vastly elaborate light display complete with an intricate colorful pattern on the roof, a manger scene, snowmen, candy canes, and Santa's sleigh on the roof. "Wow..."

Turning to Morgan who was watching her with a raised brow and a mirthful expression, she mused aloud, "I wonder how much time that took..."

"Like I said, they've got too much time on their hands."

"Oh, don't be such a grinch," she laughed

"You know, you're being really mean to someone who agreed to walk with you in this freezing cold weather to look at the lights... When I could have been spending time with Emily."

She sighed and gave a sarcasm laden apology, "You're right, I'm _so _sorry."

"Thanks," he said, pouting, "Was that so hard?"

"And you're lucky I called," she added, "Otherwise you would have been spending the night home alone, because I know Emily's with her dad tonight.

He frowned, "How do you know?"

"Because she told me and because you told me when I called earlier."

"Right..." He shook his head. "I think we should be quiet now so we can appreciate the beauty of the winter..."

She gave a snort of laughter at his awkwardly poetic words and muttered, "Before you stick your foot in your mouth again..."

He laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer as they continued down the snowy street.

Every year when she was little, her family had taken one evening out of their busy lives to take a leisurely walk through their neighbourhood to appreciate the Christmas lights decorating all the little houses, from the standard string of multi-colored bulbs to the elaborate and extravagant scenes requiring hours of time to set up.

It had always been one of her favorite things about Christmas because everyone was together, even if only for a few hours. And, in those hours, they were just a family, father, mother, and daughter, all other roles melted away and they could just be themselves, just be together. And, for many years after they were gone, she just hadn't felt up to following the one tradition that had always been about family.

But this year, she had decided that she wanted to.

But she had felt silly when she phoned up Morgan and Emily to ask them to look at the lights with her, so rather than have the same awkward conversation with the others, she had left it at just them.

Not that she really minded...

All that really mattered was that she got to spend time with someone she cared about and, for a few short hours, she could forget the fact that she was sick at all. It wouldn't have mattered if it suddenly began to storm or if the power-grid suddenly crashed, making looking at the lights moot, the company alone made this night the kind of memory she wanted to hold on to when the end came.

Her musings were interrupted when Clooney gave a short, sharp bark, having spotted another dog up ahead, and she had to think quickly to duck out of the way as he tugged on the leash, causing Morgan to stumble forwards.

Morgan had insisted that Clooney knew he wasn't going to work and had made sure he wasn't left behind. But she knew that he really just felt bad about leaving his dog alone so often, so he brought him along whenever he could.

As Clooney tugged insistently on, he unknowingly crossed onto a patch of icy sidewalk. His paws couldn't grip on the slick surface and each of his legs slid in a different direction. Morgan, in a similar bout of ungracefulness, also hit the same patch of ice and skidded, tumbling to the ground.

And, try as she might to keep her laughter in, she couldn't help but burst out in a fit of uncontrollable giggles. For a moment, Morgan tried to glare at her for laughing at him, but quickly started laughing as well. Then, his face became deadly serious, "This stays between us, Emily never needs to hear about it."

As she reached out a hand to help him up, her laughter bled into a fit of coughing. Immediately, his face creased with worry. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" His expression made it clear he wouldn't believe her no matter how many times she said she was alright.

"Yes, I'm fine. Now, would you quit worrying about me and chase after your dog?"

"Chase after my dog..." he repeated under his breath, as if confused. Then, understanding, he looked up sharply and called, "Clooney, no! Come back!"


	19. A Storm to Get Lost In

_December 19th - A Storm to Get Lost In_

Today, nearly a month and a half into her treatment, Garcia's oncologist wanted to reassess her condition. While she very much doubted that the treatment had managed to remove the tumors completely, she remained hopeful that perhaps it had at least killed the splenic tumor; then they could do surgery on her pancreas. Even if it had just shrunken them a little, it would be a world of difference.

She hadn't told the others that she had an appointment that morning, they would have wanted to come with her. Which, of course, was very kind, but she just wasn't sure she would be able to handle that. Good news was good news, but there was always the possibility that the treatment had done nothing at all or even made her worse... And as much vulnerability as the team had already been privy to, she just didn't think she could handle that kind of blow with someone there to witness it.

The doctor had wanted an abdominal CT scan, to not only examine the two pre-existing tumors, but also to make sure that the cancer hadn't spread further.

So, she was currently sitting in the oncologist's office, nervously drumming her fingers against the highly polished desk, waiting for him to return with the films which had been rushed to processing.

She had a bad feeling burning at the pit of her stomach... She may not have been a profiler, but there was a sadness in the doctor's expression, a tensing of his body, a tone in his voice that had immediately given her the sinking feeling that something was off.

The suspense of the wait, the not knowing, was killing her. She alternated between wanting someone there waiting with her, to commiserate with, so the silence wouldn't seem so overwhelming, and being glad she was alone because, by this point, she was convinced bad news was coming.

She had never been one to feel sorry for herself, but she was finding it seriously difficult to not get bogged down in the overwhelming sadness as her whole world fell out from under her...

If it weren't for the team's efforts to cheer her up, she was sure that right now she would have have suffering serious depression. She knew a lot of patients being treated along with her who didn't have anyone, patients who became seriously depressed, who didn't see the silver lining, who never saw the light at the end of the tunnel, who didn't think they would ever get better. Some of them never did because they didn't believe they would. Every time she spoke with one of those patients, she was once again struck by just how lucky she was to have the team, to have people who cared.

It could very well have been that she was still alive because of them.

Glancing outside at the window, she momentarily lost herself in the all-encompassing fog, the blanket of whiteness quickly enveloping the city. It had been snowing intermittently for the past several days, each time melting a little before being glazed over by another storm. It was the kind of weather you could get lost in, escape in. The kind of snowfall that made you think it could wash away your worries.

But the snow was only temporary. Just like the worries...

Or sometimes the hope.

She came hurtling back to earth at the sound of the door scraping against its ill-fitting wooden frame, swollen from the cold.

One look at the doctor's face confirmed what she already knew in her heart: something was wrong...

In his hands, he carried a large envelope holding the radiograph images, which he put up against the light-box. She unconsciously held her breath as he flipped on the light to illuminate the black and white scans.

She was confused when the image showed not a transverse section of abdomen, but a view of her rib cage.

"This area of shadow," the doctor pointed out a white patch in the left side of the image, "Indicates a lung infiltrate." Her forehead creased with a frown, waiting for him to continue. "You have pneumonia; ordinarily, not a huge concern, but chemotherapy has a tendency to suppress the immune system because it's designed to work on quick dividing cells such as those in a tumor or bone marrow."

She felt like she had been plunged into ice water and the immediate shock left her momentarily stunned. She was suddenly very aware of her heart pounding and her mouth going dry, she wasn't sure if her hands were actually shaking or if she were imagining it.

She had thought things were getting better...

She had thought things couldn't get worse...

"At this point, we aren't going to admit you. For now, we'll just rely on an antibiotic regimen, but if it doesn't start showing signs of improvement, you will have to be hospitalized."

She felt herself start to well up and immediately felt foolish for crying; it wasn't as if she had been told her cancer was any worse... Her remaining months hadn't been taken away... So, she should have been able to handle this, she shouldn't break down.

And, again, she almost wished someone were there with her. Almost. But she couldn't bring this down on her family before she made sense of it herself. She couldn't force them to deal with it when she wasn't in a place to help them do that. They had always depended on her... She just didn't feel right burdening them so much.


	20. Keep Holding On

_December 19th - Keep Holding On_

"Where's Garcia?" JJ asked the conference room at large.

"You mean she isn't here?" Morgan asked, confused.

"No, she hasn't shown up yet..."

"Well, she should be here by now," Reid pointed out.

"Do you think something happened? Maybe she's sick or hurt..." Emily said worriedly.

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Morgan reassured, "She probably just had an early appointment like last time."

"Has anyone tried calling her?" Reid asked.

"I tried, but she wasn't answering," JJ replied.

"We should call again, keep trying; her phone was probably just turned off," Morgan insisted.

They were saved the trouble when JJ's phone rang. She frowned slightly as if sensing bad news, before answering, "Garcia, you're on speaker."

They subconsciously held their breath as they waited for an explanation for why she wasn't at work. It had to be something bad, they knew, because she had gone to extensive lengths to make sure that she could continue to work despite her diagnosis, seeking some semblance of reality while she struggled with the unknown territory that was her cancer.

There was a long moment of rather painful silence while they waited for her to speak, but she said nothing. When she finally did reply, the way her voice wavered slightly instantly let them know that she had been crying. And they immediately felt bad for not calling sooner, for not knowing that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" came several voices at once.

She sighed and sniffled softly. "The doctor found signs of pneumonia... And I'm technically immunocompromised, so they don't know if it will clear up..."

There were several murmured words of condolence, but they all felt hollow as they hit the air. It wasn't as if the words could change anything, could provide comfort.

The sound of Hotch's phone buzzing against the table pulled them from their shock and reminded them that they were needed urgently on a case.

"Sweetie, we've got a case," JJ said gently, "But one of us could stay here with you."

"No!" Garcia interrupted, a little sharply, "You don't have to do that. I can take care of myself for a few days."

"It's no trouble, they don't need all of us, not as much as you do," Emily said.

"Really, I'll be fine. You just go save the world and come back safe."

"But what if you get worse?" Reid asked quietly.

"I promise not to do that until you get back, okay?" she said, attempting to put an end to the discussion before she broke down.

******

The doctor had said that the antibiotics wouldn't start working immediately and that it could be up to six weeks before she recovered fully. Nonetheless, though, she found that, as she only seemed to be getting worse rather than improving, the determinedly sunny disposition she had fought so hard to maintain since first being diagnosed was slowly slipping away.

She hated to say it, but she was starting to feel her hope fading.

An average of one in every twenty people died from pneumonia... And, of the hundreds of people diagnosed with it, who stood the better chance? Not the cancer patient... And when those odds were piled onto the already grim outlook of recovery from the cancer, it certainly didn't look good.

Her phone rang for what felt like the hundredth time that day and, without even looking, she knew that it was one of the team. They wanted to know how she was doing, to tell her not to lose hope. Evidently, her insistence that she was fine on her own didn't stop them from worrying, from feeling bad because they couldn't be with her.

She just _couldn't _deal with that. Or rather, didn't want to. She shut her eyes as a tear escaped to trickle down her cheek. She removed the battery from her cell phone and unplugged the land-line from the wall-jack. She just didn't want to talk. To anyone.

And, as she looked around her apartment, everything that normally cheered her just felt wrong. The happy pictures of her with friends, the brightly decorated Christmas tree, everything reminded her of the team. And she just didn't want to think about them; they made a big deal about being there for her, about understanding what was going on, about keeping away the darkness, but it was all a lie. _No one_ could really be there for her because they _didn't_ really understand and the darkness was _always_ waiting for her to admit defeat no matter how bright the light seemed.

******

Morgan sighed as he once again hung up as the call continued to refuse to connect. "Still nothing. She's still not answering."

"Something's wrong..." Emily said what they were all thinking, "Do you think she's trying to avoid our calls?"

"Why would she do that?" Reid asked.

"She just got told that she might not even get the scant few months that she was promised..." Hotch pointed out, "Don't you think that in her situation you would be a little depressed? She probably finds it hard to talk to us because we don't really understand what she's going through; she might even resent us a little."

"Someone should have stayed with her," JJ said quietly, shaking her head.

"What good would that have done?" Reid asked, "Clearly, she doesn't want to talk to us, trying to force ourselves on her would probably only make things worse."

Emily shook her head, "We need to do _something_. We can't just let her deal with this and not remind her that we're here for her whenever she needs us."

"But how do we make her see that when she doesn't want to?"

******

"Just be strong," JJ said as they recorded a little video of encouragement to send to Garcia, "You can beat this."

It might have been a little cliche, but sooner or later she was going to need some reassurance and she needed to know they believed that she could overcome this.

"What would we do if you don't? Then which tech goddess will we worship? Who will help us smile despite the horrible things we see?" Morgan half-joked.

"There's always a percentage that beats the odds," Reid pointed out logically, "And I'm sure you're one of them."

"And we're here to help you any way you need," Emily reminded gently.

"You're in our thoughts and prayers," Rossi assured.

"I saw Jack's Christmas list before he mailed it..." Hotch said quietly, as the others wondered where this anecdote was heading, "He only asked Santa to make sure you get better..."


	21. Promise to Smile

_December 20th - Promise to Smile_

Garcia fell asleep that night purposefully ignoring the fact that she hadn't answered any of the team's hundred calls. They still wanted to talk and she still didn't.

Talking about it didn't change anything, didn't make anything better, it just meant thinking about things she'd rather pretend weren't happening. Talking about it made it real. And it's hard to ignore what you know to be cold, unforgiving fact.

Before, she'd determinedly tried to just not think about it, she'd gone to great lengths to be happy even when she felt nothing of the sort. She was pretty sure the team thought it was because they were helping keep her mind off it. But they were wrong... You never forgot, it never slipped your mind. How could it? No, you just pretend it doesn't bother you, you just pretend it isn't an all-consuming hole of black nothingness waiting to swallow you whole when you're finally ready to admit defeat.

She couldn't pinpoint exactly when her outlook had become so grim, when she had become so jaded; she had really thought she was doing well avoiding the depression that so often went hand-in-hand with a cancer diagnosis. But somehow, she had fallen victim to it...

******

Garcia woke up hours later as the weak sunlight filtered into her bedroom; she felt as if she hadn't slept at all.

_Another day..._

Sighing, she rolled over to find her cell phone on the side table where she had abandoned it hours before. She was pretty sure that the team had flooded her phone with missed calls. On one hand, she was thankful that she had them by her side as she battled this awful disease. Yet, on the other hand, they were getting kind of irritating. While she understood that they genuinely cared for her, they wouldn't leave her alone...

Putting the battery back in and checking her messages, she found thirty-two missed calls and a video message. She wasn't surprised to find that they had called her so many times, but the video message was rather unexpected.

She opened the link and, watching the video, a lone tear traced a glittering path down her cheek. She had ignored their calls for the past eighteen hours straight, yet they refused to give up on comforting her. Instantly, she felt guilty for thinking that they were annoying. Her tears continued to trickle down her cheeks as she listened to their message.

"_Hey. We know we must be annoying you a little, or a lot, but we can't help it," JJ smiled, "We need to know that our favourite tech goddess is okay..."_

As the video came to an end, she had completely broken down. Even little Jack was rooting for her to get well and here she was feeling sorry for herself. She felt so stupid. She had an amazing group of friends wanting to help, but she insisted on pushing them away when she probably needed them more than ever.

Wiping away her tears, she got up from bed and rushed to the bathroom to clean herself up. She needed to look good for the video she was about to send...

******

"Did she call?" Morgan asked the room at large as he returned to the conference room with Reid.

"No," JJ replied sadly.

"You think she's going to be okay?" Emily asked worriedly.

Hotch sighed softly and said – more to himself than to the team –, "She's Garcia. She'll be fine..."

"Then, why hasn't she called?"

"She needs time to deal with the fact that instead of getting better, she got worse," Rossi replied, "We did what we could and now, we wait. Like hunting, we wait for her to come to us..."

"Let's hope it's sooner than later..."

And with that a short buzz from JJ's phone indicated to the team she received a message. A little despondently, she checked the screen and was instantly alert. "It's Garcia! She's sent us a video..." A split second later, everyone had crowded around to hear what she had to say.

The first thing that struck them was that she was dressed more colorfully than ever. That _had _to be a good sign.

"I'm sorry I've been ignoring you guys... I know you were just being annoying because you care, because you wanted to make sure that I was okay. I'm kidding; it wasn't annoying."

_Making jokes, that had to mean she was in a more cheerful mood._

"In fact, it means the world to me that you're all here for me. I'll admit that I didn't want to talk to you; I just let myself get bogged down in all the gloom and doom and it was just easier to be depressed when I pretended like no one cared. But I know you do. I guess I just needed to be reminded of that."

They breathed a sigh of relief that they had gotten through to her. They had all been very worried that she was reaching the end of her rope and would just stop caring.

"And I'm not going to feel sorry for myself anymore, I'm not doing anyone any favors by being sad. I'm going to keep holding on, keep fighting. Because you're right... What would you do without me?"

It was a huge weight off their shoulders to see her smiling again.

"Oh, and Morgan..." She smirked and he suddenly got a sinking feeling. "You'd better worship me... You owe me... You know what I mean."

Under the table, he discreetly tightened his grip on Emily's hand. "Oh, I know..." he muttered, "And she'll never let me forget it."

"Now, get back to work!" Garcia trilled from the screen, "Don't you have anything better to be doing? If you're not back for Christmas eve...there's gonna be hell to pay!"

A/N: I'd just like to take the time right now to point out just how much this story owes to Confetti Leaves... Seriously, I can guarantee 100% that it would not be done so quickly or so well if it weren't for her! Especially considering that she even wrote much of this chapter for me... Not to mention helping me out by offering ideas, reading/editing chapters, rewriting passages, keeping me from getting distracted and forcing me to write (a HUGE problem...), keeping me motivated, and providing me moral support. So a big round of applause to her! And I really hope she sees this so she knows just how much help she's been, it literally wouldn't have gotten done without her, and I'm pretty sure that by the end of it I'll owe her my first-born child or something...


	22. It's a Wonderful Life

_December 21st - It's a Wonderful Life_

Now that she had gotten over her little bout of depression and had promised the team and herself she wasn't going to let that happen again, Garcia had been making an extra effort to keep herself busy and her spirits up until they got home.

Which was easier said than done... With strict doctor's orders to stay home, she was going a little stir-crazy and was rather at a loss for things to do. And that was driving her up the wall.

Or at least, that had been the case until she realized that, in all the commotion recently, she had forgotten to wrap her gifts. Which was why, right now, at seven at night, three days left until Christmas eve, she was rather frantically working her way through a small mountain of unwrapped gifts.

She was a little surprised when there came a knock at the door and, not having expected anyone to drop by out of the blue, she considered not answering, seeing as she was currently in her pyjamas, having anticipated heading to bed much earlier with the way her medications had been wearing her down of late. Then, she realized that it was almost definitely the team back from the case and that they wouldn't care if she was wearing her pyjama.

Answering the door, she found Morgan on the other side looking a little worse for the wear but glad to be home and seeing her in high spirits, if a little tired. "We just wanted to check in, make sure you're doing alright," he explained his presence.

"We?" she asked, raising a brow, "Did you know there's no one else there?"

"Emily and Reid are waiting in the car," he added, shrugging, "They wanted to come too, but they both fell asleep and I didn't feel like waking them up."

"Don't worry, I'm doing much better," she assured, "Now that you guys knocked some sense into me."

"I'm glad," he said, pulling her into a hug.

"Actually, do you think you could give me a hand real quick?" she asked, suddenly remembering that she needed someone to help her knot the ribbon on the gifts. He nodded and she quickly explained, "I kinda left my gift wrapping until the last minute..."

"Did you ever..." he said off-handedly as he saw the pile of presents still needing to be wrapped, "You're gonna need more than just my help..."

A second later, he had his phone in hand, sending out a call to arms and about a minute after that, both Reid and Emily were at the door, slightly breathless, having sprinted up the several flights of stairs.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked, looking a little panicky.

"Oh, nothing," Morgan replied innocently, "I just figured that since we've got some time we could help Garcia wrap gifts for awhile..."

For a second, she looked like she were going to scold him for making them worry and sprint up there thinking something horrible had happened, but in the end decided against it, instead turning to Garcia with a raised brow and asking skeptically, "You aren't done yet? Even _I've _finished mine..."

"I know, I know, I'm disappointed in myself. Now, are you gonna help or are you gonna stand in the doorway talking?"

******

They had made relatively short work of about half of the pile using Reid's suggestion of an assembly line, two people wrapping, one tying ribbon, and one adding the finishing touches/inspecting the others' work.

That time was spent with the Fireplace Channel on in the background. Until Morgan got tired of it and begged, "Can we _please _watch anything else? As exciting as it is waiting for 'the hand' to change the logs on the pretend fire, I'm gonna fall asleep here soon... And then the whole system breaks down..."

"Fine," Garcia dismissed airily, "I think 'A Wonderful Life' is on, if you prefer."

But nonetheless, even with the change in background noise, the system broke down soon after because of Reid who, in classic awkward Reid fashion, managed to tape himself to the box he was wrapping and subsequently tear what had previously been an excellent wrapping job. Morgan had laughed so hard that he accidentally cut the ribbon too short and them bumped into Emily, causing her to smudge the letters on the tag she was writing.

"Sorry guys..." Reid squeaked apologetically

Still laughing, Morgan shook his head, "Don't be, that was...spectacular. Our lives would be very boring if it weren't for you."

"Thanks... I think."

******

"Thanks guys," Garcia said gratefully, "That would have taken me forever on my own."

"It was no..." Reid started to say.

But he was interrupted by Emily trilling, "Oh my God, guys, 'The Grinch' is on!"

"She saw the original Grinch for the first time last week," Morgan explained, "I've never seen a grown woman get so excited over Dr. Seuss before..."

"Why don't you stay and watch it?" Garcia suggested.

"Can we?" Emily asked brightly, resorting to the puppy-dog eyes.

"I think we can spare a half-hour," Morgan said appeasingly. Emily clapped happily, grinning from ear to ear.

"I think I've got some chocolate-candy cane ice cream," Garcia added, "A little thank you."

"Ice cream in winter?" Reid asked skeptically.

"When isn't ice cream good?" she retorted.

"Because it's cold and so is the weather..." he argued.

"Clearly, you under-appreciate ice cream," Garcia said, shaking her head sadly.

"Shh!" Emily hushed them, to everyone's amusement, "It's on!"

"_Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just North of Whoville, did not..."_


	23. How the Cookie Crumbles

_December 22nd - How the Cookie Crumbles_

"Well..." Hotch said, shaking his head, at a loss for words as he stood in the doorway surveying the scene in Garcia's kitchen. "I see you've certainly had a...busy day."

"Hi, Daddy!" Jack greeted, bounding across the kitchen to hug his father, "We made gingerbread houses!"

"I can see that," he remarked drolly as Jack pulled away and he brushed off the icing the young boy had transferred to his suit by hugging him.

'Houses' seemed a drastic understatement. Small city would have been closer to the mark. He honestly couldn't recall ever having seen so many gingerbread structures in the same room at once, certainly not when they were all the work of two people.

The kitchen itself looked like a gingerbread bomb had gone off. Icing decorated every visible surface, whether cookie or not, residual candies were scattered on the table and counters, even the air smelled so sweet it nearly induced a diabetic coma. Jack and Garcia, for their part, looked like they had taken the brunt of the gingerbread explosion, being spattered with icing, and they would have looked right at home inhabiting any of their many houses.

Turning to Garcia, Hotch said, "Thanks for babysitting. I don't know what I would have done without you."

He had been picking up Jack when he'd gotten a call from a ticked off Strauss, demanding he come in immediately and no amount of convincing could persuade her to postpone it.

"_Garcia," Hotch said, a little flustered, the second she answered the phone, "I'm so glad you're home."_

_She frowned slightly. If she wasn't working, she really couldn't think of any reason that Hotch would be calling her. "What's up?" she asked._

"_I hate to ask," he replied awkwardly, "But if you're feeling up to it, would you mind watching Jack for an hour or two? I was supposed to have some time with him today, but Strauss just called and..."_

"_Say no more," she interrupted, "I don't mind at all. I could use the company." In the background, she could hear Hotch tell Jack that he would be staying at 'Aunty Penny's' for a little while, followed by the young boy cheering happily._

"Oh, it was no trouble at all," she replied brightly, "We had fun, didn't we Jack?" He nodded vociferously in response, causing both adults to laugh.

_At first, she had been at a loss for something that would capture and hold the young boy's attention for a few minutes, let alone a few hours. Somehow, she couldn't exactly trace the thought path that had lead to it, they had ended up making a gingerbread house together. One thing lead to another and, by the time Hotch had knocked on the door, they had a whole little village._

"Although," she added with a laugh, "You might not be so appreciative when you try to put him to bed later and he's still wired from all the sugar..."

_Of course, you couldn't make gingerbread houses without eating some of the candies, it's just physically impossible. But at one point, Jack had taken it a little too far, when he'd been 'sticking a candy to the roof of the house' and caused it to collapse in on itself._

"_Oops..." he had giggled, "It's broken now, I guess we'll just have to eat it..."_

_She had frowned, "I probably shouldn't have told you that story about making cookies, should I?"_

_He had just smiled innocently as he crammed a large piece of decorated gingerbread wall into his mouth._

Hotch raised a brow, trying to seem annoyed, but his smile betrayed him as he quipped, "Oh, if he can't sleep, he'll be spending the night here, bouncing off the walls and keeping _you _awake..."

"Really, Daddy?" Jack asked, eyes wide. And again, they just laughed. The little boy just brushed past that and said, "Come see them, Daddy." He narrated as he gave a tour of the little town, "We made a whole bunch of houses for the people to live and a church and a train..."

"And what's that?" Hotch asked, pointing to what appeared to be a pile of cookie rubble.

"There was an earthquake..." Jack said, shaking his head sadly.

"And how about that one?" he asked, indicating the largest of the ten or so buildings.

"That's where you work, Daddy!" he said enthusiastically, showing him where 'FBI' had been emblazoned on the front of the building in icing letters. "And that's you!" he added, showing him the remarkably close gingerbread effigy.

He chuckled and turned to Garcia with a questioning look.

"Don't look at me," she laughed, "It was all his idea."


	24. Nothin' But Bad

_December 23rd - Nothin' But Bad_

"Your turn," Reid told Garcia, handing her the dice.

"You couldn't have picked a more festive game?" she asked as she added the hospital tile to the little town, "'Zombies!!!' just doesn't seem all that Christmas-y to me..."

"It _could _be," he insisted, "You never know when a zombie attack might occur... It could be on Christmas..."

She rolled her eyes, "That wasn't really my point..."

He pretended not to hear that. "Oooh... You can't make any move without having to kill a zombie and you haven't had very good luck so far, you're down to your last life token."

"I thought you said I didn't have to move on my turn."

"Yeah, but if you stay there, when I have to move the zombies on my turn, I'm gonna move one of them onto your square," he threatened.

"Hey!" she cried, wounded, "That's mean! You really should be nicer to me, you know..."

"Why? Because you're sick?"

"No, because Santa's watching," she reminded, "And if you aren't good, he's going to leave coal in your stocking."

Evidently, he didn't have an adequate reply to that because, a few seconds later, he began reciting, "Did you know that zombies originated in Haitian Voodoo folklore? It was believed that a sorcerer, called a bokor, could revive the dead by giving them a potion and once they were reanimated they would be permanently under the control of the bokor who often used them to do manual labour. Studies have shown that what is likely actually responsible for the zombie-state is the use of tetrodotoxin extracted from pufferfish, which is used to put the person into a death-like state and when they were dug up, they would be given dissociative drugs like datura to prevent them from being capable of higher thinking. Although, it has been debated that..."

"I killed the zombies on my square," she interrupted, "Would you care to take your turn now? Or anytime soon?" She had used his little lecture as cover for a little subversive cheating, in the form of rolling until she got a four or higher, allowing her to kill the zombies on the tile she occupied. She didn't really feel bad though, because she was losing horribly.

"What?" he yelped, his eyes narrowing accusingly, "How did you do that?"

"Just take your turn, wonder boy," she said, rolling her eyes again.

Considering that she was still confined to her house and didn't really have the energy to do anything had she been allowed, Reid had offered to spend the day hanging out with her. She had been glad for the company when he had offered, but had she known just how nerdy the day would turn out to be, she might have put some stipulations on the agreement.

First, they had watched the 'Star Wars Holiday Special', which Reid had somehow managed to get his hands on. And it was every bit as awful as it was reported to be. Then, they had worked their way through a number of board games, including 'Settlers of Catan' and 'Risk', before starting the one they were currently playing, 'Zombies!!!'. It had been a little much for her tastes, but Reid was clearly enjoying it and, if this was part of his Christmas traditions, she wanted him to know that she appreciated his efforts to include her, so she didn't say anything. That's not to say she wasn't enjoying herself, but still...there was only so much geeky-ness she could handle in one dose.

"When we finish this game, we should play the continuation where we have to battle zombie dogs in the woods while trying to find the pages of the 'Book of the Dead' to try to end the zombification curse," he piped up suddenly, "Or we could add in the opposing point of view, called 'Humans!!!' where you play the zombies trying to eat the humans."

"Or we could do something that actually has to do with Christmas," she shrugged.

"I _told _you, it _could _be related to Christmas," he repeated.

"Yes, yes, I remember; let's not open that wound again..." With a fair bit of effort, she raised herself from the floor where they were seated, playing, and offered, "Did you want something to eat or drink? I've got some gingerbread houses that should get eaten..."

"A glass of water?"

"Eggnog it is," she replied. He couldn't tell whether or not she was being serious.

As she was in the kitchen, he narrated his moves for her, "Oh, you are so going down... There's a huge wave of zombies surrounding you..."

"You know, you don't have to go out of your way to..." she started to chastise, but stopped mid-sentence, gasping for air.

Hearing the way her breathing suddenly became laboured, Reid looked up, worried. "Garcia, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm...fine," she rasped, clutching at her chest, "It's...normal with the...pneumonia, it's just...hard to...breathe sometimes."

"You don't sound fine," he insisted, abandoning the game to go check on her. "Are you sure you shouldn't..."

Just as he entered the kitchen, she collapsed to the floor, unconscious and not breathing.

For a moment, he stood frozen in place, in shock. Then, he came to his senses and called for an ambulance, rushing to her side to start rescue breathing.

When the paramedics arrived and took over, he regretfully dialled the rest of the team, not wanting to be the one to deliver the news that would put a serious damper on their Christmas spirits. "Guys... You might want to meet me at the hospital... Something's happened..."


	25. No Stars to Light This Christmas Eve

_December 24th - No Stars to Light This Christmas Eve_

Though none of them would admit it, there was a strong sense of foreboding that hung unspoken of over their heads. It had been six days since the doctor had started treating her pneumonia and, though it had seemed she was getting better, it was now clear that that wasn't the case. It had been a little over twenty-four hours since she had been admitted to the hospital and put on a ventilator to keep her breathing, a thought that was even more depressing. Needless to say, the horizon was looking pretty dark at the moment. So, though they hadn't actually spoken of it, they all felt the impending sense of loss...

Some Christmas eve this was turning out to be...

Garcia was still unconscious, but the team had been taking turns standing watch in her room in case she should wake up; they didn't want her to wake to unfamiliar settings, alone, on Christmas eve. And, each time someone would take over for the other, they would find the room looking a little more festive as slowly, each person attempted to introduce at least a small bit of Christmas cheer to the bleak room. A small tree stood in the corner of the room, bearing evidence of everyone who had been there in the form of a decoration or two, each remarkably indicative of its owner. Paper snowflakes had been taped to the window, those also reminiscent of their makers, Morgan's and Reid's looking like they had been regurgitated from a paper shredder, JJ's and Emily's actually looking somewhat like snowflakes.

It was almost as if they were attempting to make the place she would be coming back to more appealing than whatever was waiting for her should she let go, should she give up.

And, as they each took turns waiting for her to wake up, it seemed that they were each attempting to coax her back by reminding her of what she was missing. Clearly, they had all planned on her being here for Christmas eve, they had all planned on sharing some part of what it was that made the day special for them, and the fact that she wasn't awake for it wasn't about to stop them from reminding her of all the things she had to live for.

******

Emily set a plate of cookies on the bedside table as she sat down beside Garcia's bed. "They're a little burnt," she admitted, "And by 'a little', I mean burnt to a crisp. But I don't think Santa will mind... And by 'Santa', I mean whoever's keeping vigil after me." She smiled slightly at her joke, but it felt a little feeble, even to her.

She reached out to hold one of Garcia's hands and frowned, feeling rather disconcerted at the way even her hands seemed to have wasted away to skin and bones. She sighed, trying not to think about it, and started talking to Garcia in an attempt to fill up the overwhelming silence.

"You have to wake up soon, you know. Because you promised you and JJ would teach me how to bake cookies. And JJ just doesn't have the patience like you do... If she tried to teach me alone, there'd be a holly jolly bloodbath... And _I _promised Derek that, for his Christmas gift this year, I'd learn how to bake cookies since he's got a real sweet-tooth.

"I even went out a bought a cookbook and an apron, one with little gingerbread men on it... All that's left now is for you to wake up. And this time I won't eat all the dough or spill milk on the cookies or...anything else that I did wrong last time. Because believe me, do I ever need the help... Since this," she picked up one of the burnt cookies from the plate, "Is what happens when I try to bake on my own..." She tossed the cookie across the room, it hit the wall, and fell to the floor, still in one piece.

******

JJ gently set Henry down next to Garcia and the infant looked sadly between his mother and his unconscious godmother, not sure what was going on, but sure that he didn't like it. He started to whimper softly. "You see?" JJ said to Garcia, "You have to stick around for this little guy. He needs someone to spoil him rotten. And it wouldn't be fair to him if Jack got to spend so much more time with his Aunty... Who else is gonna spend the day with him making gingerbread houses and letting him eat a ton of sugar? That's _your _job! It wouldn't be fair if he didn't get a chance to remember what a sweet, fun person his godmother was... And what if something happened to us? Do you honestly think Reid could take care of a kid on his own? Henry needs his godmother."

Henry started to sob a little, as if he understood what his mother was saying. "I know, buddy," JJ said to him, "It's not fair."

Turning back to Garcia, she added, "And if that isn't enough..." she grabbed one of the cookies off the nearby plate, "Look at this... This isn't a cookie, it's a hockey puck! And I'm sure you love Morgan enough not to let him eat this monstrosity. He'd break all of his teeth. And there is no way in hell I'm going to teach Emily how to bake without you, we need you to referee. I swear, I would end up killing her otherwise... You see what happens when you're not around? Things fall apart... You're the glue that holds us together."

******

"T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse," Jack read from the well-worn, dog-eared copy of the old rhyme.

He sat next to Garcia on her hospital bed, dressed in his Christmas pyjamas, concentrating on reading. Except for the book and the pyjamas, you would have been hard-pressed to find any sign that the young boy was waiting for Santa to come; in fact, his almost solemn mood was the exact opposite of what one would expect from a child on Christmas eve.

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in the hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there."

Hotch sat nearby, watching the little boy lavish concern over his aunt. Earlier, Jack had overheard a conversation which mentioned the fact that she was in the hospital and had insisted on visiting her, no amount of convincing could change his mind.

"And Ma in her ker-ch-ee-f," Jack sounded out, "And I in my cap had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap."

Usually, Hotch reflected, he read the story to his son before he fell asleep that night and the little boy would hardly be able to sit still from his excitement. But tonight, Jack had insisted that he read it. It was disconcerting how different this Christmas eve was from last year.

A nurse knocked at the door then, wanting to change the IVs.

Turning to Jack, Hotch said, "Buddy, we should probably go home now; it's past your bedtime."

"But Daddy," he whined, "I'm not finished the story."

"Come on, Jack," he attempted to be stern, despite the boy's obvious concern, "You know Santa won't come if you're awake..."

"So, I'll sleep here," he resolutely tried to bargain, "Santa has to come here to make her better!"

******

Admittedly, Rossi felt rather uncomfortable keeping watch over Garcia. It was clear that he didn't know her as well as the others, they weren't as close 'friends'. He had been making an effort more of late, but there was no denying the fact that it just wasn't the same.

But he was nonetheless concerned and anxious for her to wake up.

So, he tried to help the only way he knew how. He pulled an old wooden rosary from his pocket, clutched the beads in his hand, and shut his eyes tightly as he started to pray.

******

Reid spent several painfully awkward, unbearably silent moments just fidgeting as he sat next to Garcia's bed. He wasn't good at comforting people who were awake, how was he supposed to manage to do it for someone who wasn't even conscious? For some reason, despite the fact that he knew she probably couldn't hear him and certainly wouldn't remember what he said or didn't say, he was inexplicably anxious at the thought of keeping her company.

His mind began to get away from him as he looked frantically about the room for some clue what to do, eventually landing on the Christmas tree. His mouth began to follow after his mind and he began blurting out the first things that came to his mind, "The modern Christmas tree was a cultural import from Germany, believed to be a Christianization of pagan winter solstice tradition which involved the worship of evergreen boughs."

His eyes lit up, suddenly feeling much more confident, the way that only being a know-it-all could do. "In fact, most aspects of the modern Christmas celebration are rooted in pagan traditions. Many scholars argue that Jesus wasn't even born in December, but March, and the celebration was moved to coincide with the pagan festival of Saturnalia in which the Romans honored the god Saturn. Saturnalia was actually quite similar to the modern traditions used to celebrate Christmas, such as feasts, the exchange of gifts, and..."

He trailed off realizing that he had gone off on a tangent as he was often prone to do. And, seeing as the others were rarely appreciative of it when awake, it seemed unlikely that Garcia was enjoying his rambling. "Sorry..." he smiled sheepishly.

******

"I'm just going to list all the reasons that you've got to wake up," Morgan said frankly, his tone clearly saying that, even if she were capable of arguing with him, she shouldn't because she would lose.

"One: you're the best tech goddess we've got. Seriously, we owe a lot of our success as a unit to you. No one can track down information the way you can. And there's definitely no one who can do it while dishing out witty banter like you. Can you imagine how many _boring _phone calls we'd have to endure if you weren't on the other end? It would probably be like talking to Reid... You don't want that, now do you?"

He smiled slightly to himself and imagined that he saw her face lift in a small grin.

"Two: we'd be seriously gloomy people if you didn't make us smile. It would be like living in a Camus novel... We'd never smile, never laugh...we'd be robots. And you think we're dark and tortured souls now... Just imagine what we'd be like if our days weren't filled with bright colors and all the little things that only you bring..."

He frowned, starting to run out of good reasons. He'd had more, but they just seemed to have vanished from his mind when he had sat down next to her bed.

"Three: we need someone else for Strauss to be annoyed with once in awhile. You remember when she called you and you thought it was me? That was probably the funniest thing I've ever seen... I swear I saw steam come from her ears..."

Again, he thought he saw the ghost of a smile as he chuckled to himself.

"Four: you'll never get to see what becomes of Emily and I... Speaking of which, I seriously owe you for that one... I'm sure I'd still be biding my time, trying to find the right moment to bring up the whole 'I love you' thing if you hadn't so...kindly...intervened."

"Five: umm... Who will go with me to cut down a Christmas tree next year?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin from the start that came when his adamant listing was suddenly interrupted. "What do you mean, who will you take to get a Christmas tree? You aren't planning on taking your girlfriend? Do you have no sense of romance?"

As his heart rate slowly returned to normal, he smiled widely, "You're awake!"

"Damn right, I'm awake... Someone had to knock some sense into you," Garcia replied seriously.

He ignored that quip and leaned down to hug her tightly. "Well, I'm glad you're back in the land of the living... You've made for one seriously depressing Christmas eve. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to call everyone and tell them the good news."

As he stood to leave the room, she called after him, "And hell, yeah, you owe me... Big time!"

He just shook his head and laughed. It was so good to have her back.


	26. Happy Christmas to All

_December 25th - Happy Christmas to All and to All, A Good Night_

"_Three! Three! Three!"_

Garcia awoke with a start to a lot of noise and was instantly sure that she must still be dreaming. She had dreamed that she had died and her soul was being auctioned off. And whatever was going on around her sure sounded a lot like an auction...

"_One! One!"_

She had thought she was awake, but now, hearing the noises around her, what had seemed to be wakefulness was starting to seem a lot like being asleep.

"_Two! Two!"_

"_One! One!"_

She lay very still, her eyes half-open against the bright light, listening to the voices.

"_Three!"_

"_Four!"_

"_Three! Three! Break them up! Three!"_

These voices sounded very familiar... What was going on?"

All of a sudden, JJ's head crossed into her field of vision. "Good morning, sleepyhead!" she greeted brightly, "You almost slept through Christmas morning."

For another minute or so, she lay silent, listening.

"_TWO!"_

"_THREE!"_

"_TWO!"_

"_TWO!"_

"_ONE!"_

"_Flax! Flax! FLAX!"_

Flax? "What... What's going on?" Garcia asked hoarsely.

"Sorry if we woke you," JJ apologized, "We were bored and started playing a game... Needless to say, it got a little out of hand, as usual. And by out of hand, I mean loud."

That explained everything without explaining anything at all. Her sleep-addled brain was having a hard time grasping what it was that had been said. "What?"

"They're playing 'Pit'," JJ answered flatly. Seeing the still-questioning look on Garcia's face, she added, "Trading grains..."

"Sounds fun..." she finally managed to comment.

"Don't judge it until you've played it," Reid called, "It's awesome."

"It's more fun than it sounds," Morgan relented.

"It would have to be..." Hotch quipped.

"Maybe we should open gifts now that Garcia's awake," JJ pointed out.

"You waited for me?" she asked, slightly tearfully.

"Of course," Emily said, "It wouldn't be Christmas morning without you."

"And we brought hot chocolate and baked goods for breakfast," Rossi said, "If you feel up to eating."

"And don't worry," JJ interrupted, "Nothing baked was touched by Emily's black hands of death."

"Hey!" Emily protested.

"Prove me wrong..."

Garcia smiled. It was a good thing she had woken up... She couldn't picture a more perfect Christmas if she tried.

******

They brought a make-shift Christmas dinner to the hospital to share with Garcia, seeing as the hospital equivalent was rather pitiful and, since they had already made plans to have dinner together before she was admitted, there was no sense in not doing it now.

"What happened to it?" Emily asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked down at the turkey Rossi had brought.

"What about it?" he asked as he dished JJ's barley casserole onto everyone's plates.

"It looks like you carved it with a grenade," Hotch said, leaning over Emily's shoulder to examine the bird carcass.

"It does not!" Rossi disagreed, affronted. The others laughed.

"Who cares what it looks like," Morgan interjected, "As long as it tastes like turkey. I'm starving..."

"How is that even possible?" Garcia asked, "You ate a dozen cookies for breakfast..."

"That was _hours _ago," he groaned. Again, everyone chuckled.

Just then, there came a knock at the door and they all turned to see Garcia's oncologist standing there.

"Dr. Fitzpatrick..." Garcia breathed, trying to keep her voice even, her posture tensing.

"Sorry to interrupt," he apologized, "Can we have a minute? I wanted to discuss your latest scans."

Garcia shook her head. "No, I want them to stay."

She was tired of worrying what the others would think, how they would react; they could handle the news. And honestly, she needed them to help her. Besides, it was Christmas day; whether it was good news or bad news, she wanted her family to be a part of it.

"Okay..." the doctor said hesitantly.

Garcia felt both Emily's and JJ's hands tighten their grip on hers. She could tell they were anxious too. Which was understandable.

"The new CT showed that the metastises in your spleen are gone. We'd like to do a needle aspiration to confirm, but we're confident there's nothing left. That means we can do surgery on your pancreas to remove the original tumor." He paused, letting the news sink in. "The treatment worked. We can cure you!"

For another moment, there was complete silence, followed by the sound of a choked sob. All eyes were on Garcia a split second later as she brushed away a few stray tears. "Thank you," she breathed.

And then, there was a flurry of activity as everyone crowded around, hugging her, sharing in the good news.

"I don't mean to be cliche, guys," Morgan remarked, "But this seems like a Christmas miracle to me."

There was a noise of murmured agreement as, all thoughts of dinner gone, everyone revelled in the best Christmas gift they could have gotten: life, hope, future, more time with someone they cared about.

A/N: IMerry Christmas, loyal readers! I'm glad you stuck around to the end! This was really enjoyable to write, so I hope you all liked it just as much. And, if you're into that kinda thing, check out the companion piece (The Soft Snowflakes Kiss Us), which has already been started. Oh, and if you've never heard of/played Pit, it is seriously the greatest game ever... You will never have so much fun... Look it up.


End file.
